Guardians and Hunters
by Cybertramon001
Summary: When the three Guardians Ti'ana, Bianca, and Katie-8 defeated the Dark Heart in the Black Garden, they were pulled through a wormhole into another galaxy. One also populated by humans, and besieged by the forces of Darkness. Now they must find a way back to Earth. And there is another player, one who could rip the world apart in his haste for power. A Destiny/RWBY crossover
1. Remnants of Earth

**Hello everyone who's reading this.**

**I'm going to be perfectly honest and admit that I'll probably take a couple of years (at least) to continue this story here. I've just got so much else to work on right now. But I wanted to post this chapter and the beginning of this story in memory of Monty Oum.**

**He was a brilliant pioneer taken before his time. A man who decided that his job was going to simply be awesomeness, without any formal education. He simply decided that he was going to do really cool things, and it worked. Without him, there would be no Haloid. Without him, there wouldn't be any awesome fight CG fight scenes in Red vs Blue. And without him, there just wouldn't be RWBY. He gave us all so much because he wanted to. And while Rooster Teeth now have dedicated teams to continue with his vision and work, it still hurts to lose him.**

**The best way to remember him is to put as much work as we can in enjoying and making awesome RWBY stuff. To come up with even more insane ideas for stories. And to always remember his motto. Never let anyone tell you something is impossible.**

**R.I.P Monty Oum. June 22 1981 – February 1 2015. He will be missed.**

Chapter 1: The Remnant of Earth

Far, far into the future… In a reality different from our own… The world as we know it is a very different place. Ages past, Man found The Traveller on the surface of Mars, waiting for them. Those who discovered it had no idea what it was. Was it a sufficiently advanced alien? A god, or even _The_ God? Or was it just something completely beyond our limited comprehension? Whatever it was, it was not a threat to our way of life. In fact, it aided our growth. With its knowledge, Earth grew and grew in both size and prowess. People colonised the other worlds in our system, improved technology till they could live for twice as long, and even managed to terraform Mercury into a garden world. And for a time, the world was amazing.

Then The Darkness came. And we lost everything.

The hated enemy of The Traveller, The Darkness was as alien as our saviour was, as were those that followed it. But one thing was clear. It would not rest until everything The Traveller aided was nothing but ash and ruins. We lost world after world, our forces decimated despite our best efforts. Those blessed by The Traveller, The Guardians, fell one by one to the encroaching darkness. It seemed all hope was lost. But in the final battle, The Traveller did something that banished its rival to far space, at the cost of its life. Humanity built a city under the shadow of The Traveller, scavenging everything we could to complete it. Guardians fought tooth and nail to rescue as many people as they could. But we succeeded in creating The Last City. And now we cower in our homes every minute.

But things have been changing. The forces of The Darkness are being pushed back. Guardians have visited the old worlds of Venus and Mars, and explored the forgotten shores of the Moon. Millions of our enemies lie dead in their wake, from their lowest soldiers to their own champions. All to find a way to overcome the challenges.

All to this possibly final confrontation with what may very well be a part of The Darkness itself.

* * *

"Hey Asshole!" Ti'ana the Titan shouted, waving at the giant Minotaur empowered by the Black Heart. "It's bad enough that you're such a whiny bitch you need these toys to fight us! But you could at least have the decency to shoot properly!" The others didn't know if the machine understood her words. It clearly got her intentions though, chasing after her and blasting pillars apart in an attempt to kill her. Bianca the Hunter shook her head at this.

"'Do we think we can kill a god?' What a load of bullshit." She popped out from behind her pillar, blasting away at the Vex's core with her Hand Cannon as Ti'ana led it right to them. The force from the bullets slamming into such sensitive equipment caused it to stumble, allowing Ti'ana to pull out her shotgun and aided in attacking too. "She's going to get herself killed again and I'll have to drag her Ghost out of the line of fire."

"Calm down Bianca." The last member of their fireteam, Katie-5 the Warlock, consoled her as she tore through the Goblins trying to surround them. "She's capable of handling herself. And we're nearly winning this." She glowed a deep, dark purple before throwing a writhing orb from her hand. It slammed into the Minotaur, shattering plating and tearing off its arm as it exploded. "Besides, she's a Titan. First ones in, last ones out. They take the damage so that we don't have to."

"Yeah, but she's taking risks just for the sake of it. If she doesn't calm down, she's going to lose her Ghost." That was a fear all Guardians felt. The Ghosts, the remnants of the benevolent Traveller, were the only things keeping them alive. They granted Guardians the ability to return from the dead from almost anything. To lose a Ghost was the worst thing that could happen. Not only would the Guardian remain dead, but each Ghost lost meant the loss of another warrior. There were only a limited number of them in existence.

Just as Bianca had been afraid of, Ti'ana got too close to the damaged Minotaur. It reached out with its remaining arm and grabbed her tightly, the servos grinding against her armour plating. And it placed her at just the right height to stop them from shooting at its core without hurting her. But Ti'ana proved her bone-headedness by striking the arm that was holding her. She glowed blue from Arc energy, and the arm shattered into a million pieces. The Vex crowding around were sent flying by the shockwave, disintegrating from the super. Smiling behind her visor, Bianca engaged her Golden Gun Super. Holding her Cannon in one hand, a gun of pure golden light materialised in her other hand, allowing her to unload powerful shots into the Vex's core. Cracks glowed all over it as it laid there dying.

And when it died, so did the Dark Heart.

It was a convulsing black orb, resembling something that should be angular but isn't. It squirmed and writhed in agony, making a noise that their minds could only think of as a dying scream. The land shook as it glowed brighter and brighter, until they were buffeted by a powerful explosion. The few towers still standing fell, and the three Guardians were battered from the force behind it. As they got back up, groaning and holding onto injured body parts, they realised they had bigger things to worry about.

The Black Heart had turned into a wormhole.

"I'm picking up signals again! Calling our ships for immediate evacuation!" Ti'ana's Ghost shouted above the sound of the wormhole. They had only minutes at best before they were sucked in. Already they could feel the pull of the wormhole affecting them. Keeping hold of the few remaining pieces still attached to the ground, they saw more than heard their ships approaching. Bianca's Quite Content Damsel, a pointed vessel with a split front section, and Katie-5's Fangs of Nyx, built as a more stub-nosed vessel, hovered overhead, ready to digitize them and fly off.

But then the wormhole screamed, and the pressure grew even greater.

The ships couldn't hold steady in the increase pull. Despite the engines going at full throttle they were pulled through along with parts of the ground. At this rate they were going to die. Luckily for them, as the pull lessened slightly, Ti'ana's own Phaeton showed up. Without wasting any time, her Ghost got them all onboard and tried to fly off. But they didn't get far before the pull increased again. The ship tumbled head over engine as it was pulled through too. With a final explosion, the wormhole vanished.

And our heroes were gone.

* * *

"This is _really_ uncomfortable." Bianca said, her voice straining. Because it couldn't waste time redirecting them to the personal quarters, the three of them had ended up haphazardly in the cockpit. This meant that Ti'ana was stuck lying on the seat, with Bianca sitting on top of her, and Bianca had Katie-5 lying on top of _her_. Now Bianca had first-hand knowledge that the Exo girl's chest was actually made from some form of soft pliable material.

"Ah heh. Oops. My bad." The ghost at least tried its best to look guilty. It took several seconds of pushing and shoving, but eventually they all managed to get free and into the personal hold. The view screens showed an unending stream of blue light stretching onwards to infinity.

"Little Light. Status report." Ti'ana said firmly. Her ghost's case was shaped with two sharp points on the top and the bottom, both coloured golden. It's eye jittered as it ran over all systems and communicated with its fellow ghosts.

"Well, everything inside the ship checks out. The engines are a little hot, but they can cool off while we're stuck in here. And that's the good news." It sighed. "We are stuck inside a wormhole, leading us to who-knows-where. We could be heading for the Vex homeworld right now. Hell, we could be reaching The Darkness." It dipped a bit in the air before floating upwards. "But hey, we might not. We could end up back home. No need to get down if we don't have to. For now, let's just be happy that we killed a god."

"Yeah. And it took us with it when it died. Some ending." Bianca snorted, taking off her helmet. Underneath it she had dark skin that history said came from the continent of Africa, though her wild blond hair suggested she might've come from other lands. White tattoos stood out on her skin, recalling some long ended army against the Darkness. "All that effort, all that time spent, all the deaths we suffered. And for what? To kill some minor piece of the Darkness? And we're supposed to stay positive?"

"Calm down Bianca." Ti'ana consoled her. "We're still alive right now. And if the Vex or the Darkness had a portal home, they've got to have one back to Mars. It's simple logic. Just keep it together until then." She placed her hand on Bianca's shoulder. "We'll survive. We always do."

"And here comes the part where you take off that helmet and give her a deep, passionate kiss." Katie said, ruining the mood. Ti'ana and Bianca complained, but they were both a bit relieved the Exo could find humour in this. Katie removed her helm to reveal her metallic skin and glowing blue eyes. As an Exo, one of the machines built by the Golden Age and blessed with self-awareness, she always looked remarkably different in a crowd of people. No one knew their inner workings except perhaps the Ghosts. But everyone knew they were as human as anyone else. Katie-5 had fins on her ears to differ herself from other Exo, along with a yellow stripe down her face. "But seriously, we just killed something the _Vex_ found crazy. We should be celebrating. Ti'ana, you got any alcohol on board this rust bucket?"

"Not a drop. I'm probably crazy enough as it is without getting drunk before a mission." She had removed her helmet now, revealing herself as an Awoken. They are just as mysterious as the Exo, even though they were once Humans. During the dark times, when the Forces of The Darkness were encroaching on all sides, many humans fled Earth on colony ships bound for the outer reaches of the Solar System. While many people most likely believed them to have died out there beyond The Darkness, something happened to them and changed them. When some of their descendants returned, their skin was a variety of colours, from blue to grey to purple. Their eyes glowed like lights, and they were very susceptible to the powers of The Traveller. Many Awoken born on Earth attempted to return to The Reef to find out more about their people, but they were turned away. The Queen of The Reef wanted little to do with them, or anyone from Earth. Ti'ana's hair was a long pale white, and her eyes glowed a brilliant icy blue. "In fact, I never really thought to stock my ship with anything in case my flight took a long time. It looks like we'll have to make our own fun." She facepalmed as she realised what she just said.

"Great. It'll be a bit tight, but I bet we could all fit in your bunk." Katie was already removing her robes before Bianca stopped her. For some reason, Katie was obsessed with sex. Well, not obsessed so much as she liked doing it. Yeah, some Guardians celebrated surviving a dangerous foe by sleeping with a friend (especially if that friend is a lover and on their fireteam) but Katie was often called 'The Tower's Sparrow'. She'll sleep with anyone and anything. Human, Awoken, Exo.

While Super Good Advice, the A.I onboard Ti'ana's Machine Gun wasn't saying anything, she was pretty sure Katie slept with it too.

"Can't we make some playing cards or a holographic game of chess or something?" Bianca asked, sitting down at the table set up in the back. She opened a pouch at her waist, revealing a food bar that had been slightly crumpled. "Tyrion, how long before we exit this wormhole?"

"Unknown." Her ghost replied, a red shell with white lines. "I suppose that we'll get there when we get there."

"Helpful." She snorted. She placed her guns on the table and had Tyrion lift them into the air. "Well, if we're going to end up who-knows-where, we might as well make sure everything's still working properly." Her sniper rifle was pulled apart into individual parts, several of them now flashing red. Bianca grabbed them and took a closer look, using a tool kit on her belt to tinker with them. Ti'ana and Katie shrugged, and had their ghosts create a holoboard and pieces.

Anything to ignore the endless blue surrounding them.

* * *

"B5."

"Goddammit. You sunk my battlecruiser, again. I swear you're cheating, Katie."

"Nah, you're just really predictable. Now, hand over that shirt." Ti'ana sighed, pulling at the black bodysuit she wore underneath her armour, now lying on the floor by Katie. Unzipping it, she revealed a black shirt she wore underneath, slightly stained with sweat. It took a bit to pull it off, but eventually she was sitting there in just a black bra. "Just three more hits, and it's game over. Hey Bianca, you sure you don't want to join in? I bet you've got a killer body under that armour."

"No thanks. I've got better things to do with my time." Bianca replied, looking away from the others.

"Better things to do? You're napping."

"Not all of us can go without sleep or food. Some of us are still human." Another whoop alerted her to Katie scoring another victory. She was certain that Ti'ana was right; there was no way she was that good. She pulled the pillow harder against her face at the sound of Ti'ana pulling off the bodysuit, wriggling like mad. It had been 4 hours since they first arrived in this hellish place, and there was still no sign of an end. She had a vivid nightmare of the three of them sitting at the table, 2 old hags and a malfunctioning robot all playing strip games. That couldn't be their end. After everything they went through she refused to simply waste away like nothing.

"Ti'ana, you'd better put your clothes back on." Little Light suddenly said. "The energy readings are fluctuating. Getting a lot weaker. I think we're about to exit the wormhole."

"You couldn't have waited 5 more minutes to tell us that? I almost had her underwear off. I was seriously about to answer the age old question of whether Awoken tattooed their tits." Katie complained as Ti'ana started throwing things back on. Her Ghost helped her out by digitising her armour and then reapplying them on her body.

"Alright everyone. Hope you're all sorted. We need to be ready to go guns blazing at whatever fat freak's waiting for us on the other side. Be ready for anything." The others nodded, Guardian training taking over.

"Estimating exit time. Leaving the wormhole in three… two… one…" The ship shuddered as the blue glow faded, leaving them floating through space again. "Engaging the engines." The ship hummed as the engines all restarted again, allowing the ship to turn. They all waited with bated breath as something came up on the view screen. It was… It was…

"No way." Bianca breathed, staring in amazement. "No fucking way."

"Well, that's a thing. I hope we didn't uncover some secret invasion path or something." Katie added.

"It's… Earth. And yet it's _not_ Earth." It sounded strange, but it was the best way to describe it. It was the familiar blue planet, with green and brown landmasses dotting it. But the continents were all wrong. They didn't look like anything they remembered. Where was the remnants of America? Or the boot of Italy? Where had they gone? "Little Light, are you seeing this?"

"I am. I'm not completely certain, but I doubt that any continental shift could've done this. Past _or_ future. As crazy as this sounds, we might be on an alternate Earth."

"'Might be'. Meaning you could be wrong." Bianca pointed out.

"If it's actually the past, then we need to warn them about the Darkness." Ti'ana said.

"And if it's the future?" Katie asked uncertainly.

"Then let's hope we're all still around."

"Well, even if it didn't look like Earth, we're still going there. I've detected your ships entering its atmosphere." Little Light said. The other ghosts appeared and started flashing.

"I've managed to sync with the onboard systems, but the wormhole knocked a few things loose. Best I can do is give it a controlled crash landing." They said in unison.

"Normally, 'controlled' and 'crash landing' aren't used in the same sentence." Katie said.

"Well, unless you can get into them and fix them before they crash, it's the best we have." They spotted the ships now, glowing red as they rushed through the atmosphere. The boosters ignited partially, making minute adjustments to their trajectory. "Well, we'd better follow them down. Hopefully we'll be able to see where they land."

"I'll take us in." Ti'ana said, hopping into the pilot's seat. The others quickly sat down as they felt the ship boost forwards, the gravity field compensating. As they passed into the planet's range, the gravity field deactivated, causing them to slightly bounce forward. They passed through a field of clouds, vision down to nothing. As they exited, they were relieved to see there wasn't a mountain suddenly careening towards them. Instead, they saw a large port city surrounded by walls, with a large castle sitting on a cliff above them. But there was no sign of the other ships.

"The crash must've knocked something else loose. We can't pick up anything from them anymore." The ghosts said.

"Well, since there isn't a massive burning fire or a giant explosion, I'd say they're still reasonably intact."

"Yeah, but what's living down there? We know nothing about this world. For all we know, it's populated by monkeys that have enslaved cavemen like that old Pre-Golden Age film."

"You watch too much of those antiques. But, you do make a good point. We need to find an information hub."

"I'm detecting a steady stream of data coming from that tall building in the center of town. That'd be a good place to start." Little Light started flashing. "Hold on. Someone's trying to contact us. I'll patch them through."

"…Repeat, this is the Vale City Airspace. Unidentified aircraft, you are flying too low. Pull up immediately." A human sounding voice spoke through the speakers. They all looked at each other in surprise before Ti'ana responded.

"Vale City Airspace, this is Phaeton V3.1. I was taking my ship for a private run, kinda got lost. Sorry about that."

The other guy sighed. "And that's why we keep telling you lone pilots to wait until daytime. We don't want to have to inform your next of kin that you died doing a crazy stunt like this. Go home, now. And we'll forget this ever happened."

"Roger that. Pulling up and heading out." By now, they were flying a bit above a tall building. Not as tall as the information hub, but still plenty tall enough. "Ok. We're dropping now. Ghosts, make us some cloaks or something I'm worried we stand out too much right now."

"Understood. Dropping in three." They felt the familiar rush of energy flowing over them, causing them to now appear outside the ship. They dropped towards the nearby roof, rolling as they land. Ti'ana nearly got tangled up as a heavy brown robe twisted around her, while the others were still perfectly fine. Stupid long robe/cloak things. They turned to see the ship flying away, heading towards the forest.

"Aright. Let's get moving before someone gets suspicious about three people standing on top of a building." She said, stepping off the edge. Her robe fluttered around her as the ground got closer and closer, but before she hit it she activated her lift, her body glowing as energy fired from her feet. It was enough to allow her to slowly fall to the ground, negating all inertia. No one really knew how it worked – although there were probably some Warlock who had an inkling – but all she cared about was that it stopped her from being a pancake. She felt a small blast of air as Bianca dropped down next to her, landing lightly enough to not make a sound, while Katie glided down next to them, as elegant as you please. "We'll need our sparrows to get there quickly enough. Hopefully we won't stand out too much, or no one will see us long enough." A blue hover bike with red flames on the front and side materialised in front of her, dipping slightly as she hopped on. She was double checking the controls when she heard Bianca give a slight cough. She glared at her and Katie, still just standing there, when it hit her. She groaned and rested her head on the sparrow.

This was going to suck.

* * *

Ti'ana winced as she heard the bottom of the sparrow scrape against the road as they went down a dip. She wasn't worried about scratching the paintwork, since no matter how wrecked the sparrow was it would always be materialised good as new. No, she was worried about what that meant for a quick getaway. Or if there was a power line that could be ruptured. Or they might all just get spilled out onto the street, at the mercy of anything that chased them.

On the other hand, it might help get rid of some annoying passengers.

"Katie. Hands. Down." She growled, feeling her hands pressing against her chestplate. It was too pointed to accentuate her beasts, and too heavily armoured for her to feel the touch. But it was the principle of it. Why she didn't have Bianca sitting behind her was beyond her. But the Hunter simply refused to. Maybe she was worried about Katie molesting _her_, given that her armour was sleeker and more form-fitting than hers. The Warlock immediately wrapped her arms around Ti'ana's waist as she was instructed at the beginning of the trip.

They were lucky to have arrived at the dead of the night. There were few people and vehicles still around, but from what they could see most items were Pre-Golden Age in design. All of the vehicles still had wheels even, like antiques. It made their hovering bike stand out like an Ogre at the Tower (don't worry, it was dead when it arrived). They had to take several detours to avoid inquisitive eyes, their ghosts helpfully keeping them in the right direction. At long last, they finally managed to reach their destination. A very tall structure with arches supporting the walls.

And there were a bunch of guards patrolling the outside.

"Well that complicates things a bit." Bianca said as they watched the troops from behind a bush. "But I've got a way around that. Tyrion, redirect all power to my stealth unit."

"Just try to avoid killing anyone, ok? I want to make sure this stays as just breaking and entering." Ti'ana said.

"Why are we committing some B&amp;E?" Katie asked them. "This place is populated by humans. Even if we haven't seen any Awoken or Exo around, Bianca could still come back here in the morning and sneak in."

"We don't know anything about this place. For all we know, this world has been conquered by the Darkness and they serve its will to stay alive. Or they could've found the Darkness instead of the Traveller. We need that intel ASAP, or else we're going to keep running in blind."

"And besides, I've kinda already dealt with the guard." Bianca grunted, tugging the unconscious man after her. Ti'ana rushed out and grabbed him with one hand, throwing him into the bush and crouching down. Despite her worries, no one came round to check things out.

"Ok. Bianca, start clearing out the main room. We'll cover you."

* * *

Sandalwood was starting to feel completely bored. Having the Cross Continental Transmit patrol was considered the dullest job in the district. No one ever bothers to attack this place. There are no valuables to steal; no Lien to pilfer; and they didn't even keep any secret info on the sight. Sure the place _looked_ fancy, but that was all it really had going for it. In all honesty, they could all leave for a quick midnight snack, and the place would still be completely secure. But orders were orders.

"Hey Sam. Anything interesting on your end?" His comm lit up as Kathryn called. He had tried asking her out several times, but he always got rejected. But his repeated attempts had been so enjoyable that they became friends instead.

"If there was, do you really think I'd share it with the rest of you guys? Place is completely dead. Sometimes I wish someone was stupid enough to try and rob this place so we could kick some teeth in."

"Yeah, I hear you. God, this is so… Huh."

"What?"

"The doors just opened. But there's no one there." He imagined she was shrugging. "Probably just a stupid glitch or something. So anyway, what are our plans for…" Sam could hear the sound of something soft hitting the ground around her. His training immediately recognised it as the sound of a person. "What the…? David?"

"The klutz must've tripped again. He's always falling over his own feet."

"No Sam. I think this is serious. He's not…" Another thud. "Andrew? All teams, report in."

"This is Carol. What seems to be…? She groaned, her comms cutting off.

"Alex reporting in. I thought I saw movement. Over by the…" He yelled as something heavy slammed into him.

"I see it. We've got intruders, two… no, three of them." Viridian shouted, before his line went dead.

"All units, move to capture. Take them down." Sam rushed back to the front doors of the CCT, listening to the sound of fighting through his comms. From Kathryn's panicked commands, it wasn't going well. He nearly slammed the doors open in his haste, stopping as he spotted the rest of the guards lying on the ground. Some of their armour was dented or cracked, and none of them were moving much. He pulled his gun free, and nearly dropped it when he saw movement behind the Elevator.

"As… As a soldier in the Altesian Military, I order you both to come out with your hands on your head." He was suddenly very aware of how undefended he was. While having no sudden barricades or cover to hide behind helped when fighting off thieves, it made it rather difficult to take the place back if someone broke in. "I'm warning you, I am heavily armed and I have called my superiors." At this, the two intruders stepped out from behind the cover. They wore full-body cloaks, hiding most of their features. But given how slim they were he assumed that they were both women. Luckily though, they were unarmed. At least, he thought they were. "Hands on your heads, and on the ground now. Both of you."

Wait. Didn't Viridian report _three_ intruders?

He felt someone tap his shoulder before everything went dark.

* * *

"Hmm. Easier than I thought." Little Light said as they stepped over the fallen troops, bobbing around them. "Maybe they're not used to having an enemy rush them and engage in melee like that."

"Well as long as that guy was bluffing, I'm not really concerned." Bianca said as they entered the elevator. The next room they found themselves in was completely empty, making the next job far easier. The room was set up with several computer screens around a single desk, while the very front of the room had a receptionist desk. Their ghosts immediately honed in on the desk, while the Guardians had a look around the room. Bianca stood by the tall windows, looking down upon the city. As such, she was the only one to see the jets heading towards them.

"Shit. They got word out. We've got at least half a dozen jets heading straight for us." She ran back towards the elevator, determined to have left before they got there."

"You don't know that they're after us. For all we know they could just be flying by." Katie argued.

"Maybe they are, maybe they aren't." Ti'ana interrupted the argument. "All I know is that I don't want to risk it. Are you three almost finished there?" She shouted at the Ghosts.

"Just a little more… Done. There is some unbelievable information here. This world is amazing."

"You can tell us when we're in the clear. Team, move out."

"Uh, where to? Cause they are definitely landing at the base of this place." Katie responded. Ti'ana replied by slamming her fist through the window, her enhanced strength shattering it. She jumped out, the others close behind her as they fell. They could almost hear the soldiers below shouting at each other, pointing up at them in alarm. When they had almost reached the ground, they slowed their fall as Ti'ana summoned her sparrow. Now she really wished she had a more muted design on it. Oh well, too late to fix that. The three of them landed perfectly on it, Ti'ana stepping on the throttle before they had even landed and leaving the soldiers behind. A quick glance showed that they were running back to their jets, but hopefully they could lose them in the city. Applying a touch on the brakes, they turned 90 degrees and headed down the road before taking another sharp turn the other way. She did this a couple more times in hope of losing them. Not hearing the sound of sirens or engines, she gave a sigh of relief.

And of course, that was when three swords stabbed the side of the sparrow.

The bike was yanked out from under them, throwing them off bodily and crashing into a wall hard enough to explode. As the three of them got to their feet, they were surprised to see a young girl walked towards them. She was dressed in an old-looking dress, with black stockings a collar with green lines over them. There was a pink bow on top of her bright orange hair, and she was giving the three of them a warm smile. "Salutations." She said, waving at them. "You are under arrest for breaking into Government property and assaulting Atlas soldiers. Please surrender, or I will be forced to stop you by force."

"Is this kid serious?" Bianca said over their personal comms. "Does she really think she can stop us on her own?"

"I think she does. We should just rough her up a little. I feel bad about beating up a kid." Katie replied. Ti'ana pulled her alternate weapon, an Auto rifle, from her back, hoping it would be enough to intimidate the girl.

"I see. You refuse to surrender. Unfortunately for you three, I am combat ready." A metal object floated from behind her, folding out into a sword and then splitting into a dozen blades. They hovered behind her like a set of wings.

"Whoa. What the hell are those?" Bianca yelped as the girl threw her hands towards them, the blades shooting straight for them. They were forced to dodge as the blades stabbed the ground, before pulling back towards her. She waved her hands again and the blade spun out towards Katie, nearly slicing her as she ducked. "Please tell me we're _not_ shooting a kid with these guns. They are meant to kill." Bianca reminded them.

"Well we can't just surrender or give up. Try and aim for the blades, see if we can break them." Ti'ana started blasting with her rifle, careful not to hit the girl in the crossfire. But it was hard. Her blades were moving too fast, and spinning around her. They had to stop and dodge almost all the time. She was suddenly reminded of when they had to kill Aksor the Winter Priest. But a few shots were managing to hit, knocking the blades away and leaving marks in the metal. The girl transformed one of the blades into a gun of some kind, firing a beam at Ti'ana. But the gun exploded as Bianca shot it, the bullet thundering into the building behind her. So the girl grabbed a phone box and tossed it at her, the edge clipping her and throwing her to the ground.

"Oh fuck no." Bianca groaned, trying to get back up. But the girl threw her blades too fast, and her barrier was down. She was going to die, again.

Except that the blades didn't hit her. They were stuck in Ti'ana's back.

"What the hell are you doing, you idiot?" Bianca asked her angrily, pushing her off and blasting at the swords still floating around. Another two were shattered, while Katie kept the girl pinned with a pulse rifle. "Hey Einstein. Dying doesn't matter to us, remember?"

"What can I say?" Ti'ana coughed as she pulled the blades out, noticing the string-like material attached to them. "It's the thought that counts, right?"

"Not particul… Charging girl!" The girl, apparently running out of blades, was heading straight for them. Ti'ana turned just in time to catch her hands, stopping her in her tracks. But from the way she as grunting it was pretty hard to keep her from moving. Bianca ran in, ready to knock the girl out, when she realised she could hear servos whirring.

And Katie was too far away for it to be her.

"Wait a minute. This girl's an Exo." She smiled under her helmet, now aware that she could afford to be a bit more lethal. She stabbed her knife into the girl's arm, sparks erupting from it before using her hand cannon to blow her other arm off. Ti'ana stumbled as they were sent reeling, throwing the mechanical arm around in surprise. She swept the girl's legs out from under her, blasting a hole in them as they backed away. With the Exo girl disabled, they materialised another sparrow and ran off.

"You know." Katie said suspiciously. "You were awfully quick to dismember her once you figured out she was 'just a machine'."

"Ah, they can fix her. After all, they did for John-17." Bianca replied.

"John was an unusual case. And he's a bit of a badass." Yeah, there probably weren't many Exos who after having their arm blown off would club an Archon to death with it. Ti'ana felt Bianca squirm as she realised that she was clutching her tightly.

"Hey, Ti'ana. I… Thanks, for what you did back there. It was nice of you to nearly give your life for me. Even if it was completely pointless and stupid." She said. Ti'ana smiled behind her helmet.

"Hey, that's what fireteams do. They watch out for each other, keep everyone going, and occasionally do something stupid for each other." Bianca turned away, probably scouting the area in case they got ambushed again. "So, Little Light. You said you guys got something amazing."

"That's right. You guys won't believe what we found out while we were in there."

"And I think this world might've met The Traveller and The Darkness."

* * *

They managed to sneak past the giant wall around the city and into the forest, where they were picked up by Ti'ana's Phaeton without much trouble. Once they were back in outer orbit, the Ghosts worked together to present a video on this world's history.

For as long as anyone could remember, this world, the world of Remnant, has been plagued by dark monsters known as The Grimm. Animal shaped creatures that seemed to have a pathological hatred for humans. Indeed this hatred was so great that they refused to eat anything other than human flesh. They have always been lured by negative emotions, attacking places filled with great sorrow, anger, and fear. Many villages managed to withstand an initial attack only for their fear and sadness to attract more of the Grimm, leading to their demise. Sadly, not much is known about them, since their corpses tend to fade after a short while, leaving it impossible to study them without being potentially killed. And the older they get, the smarter they become.

But there is hope for Humanity. Buried in the mantle of the planet is a strange crystal known as Dust. Coming in a variety of colours, what makes Dust so unique is that it reacts the presence and release of something called an Aura, a manifestation of a person's soul. When used, Dust can create a variety of elemental effects, and is commonly used as ammunition for weapons. It is thanks to Dust that Mankind has been able to push back against the Darkness.

And lastly, Aura. All creatures not of the Grimm are capable of using it, some stronger than others. Those trained in its use can use it to create a barrier to deflect life-threatening attacks, and can even generate amazing effects from it. These effects can range from super strength and speed, to illusions, to even telekinesis. They are known as Semblances, and are used by the most skilled of people. Those who can tap into their Auras in such a way are recruited as Huntsmen. They function similar to Guardians, going out around the world and fighting back against the Grimm to keep them at bay. It is often said that a single Huntsman is equal to a full battalion in a fight, able to slay hundreds of Grimm singlehandedly.

"This place really has no records of the Traveller? Even though it's obvious it was here?" Katie was curious about that. There was no way something so great, so powerful, so _large_ could simply be forgotten.

"And how come this place is still mostly fine? I mean, sure they've got the Grimm. But apart from that it seems less desperate than home."

"I've been thinking about that, and I might have a couple of suggestions. The Traveller may have arrived centuries or even millennia ago, long enough that no one still remembers it. And – and I just want to stress this is a theory – but the Traveller could have received word that the Darkness was approaching, and tried to make it seem that he had never been to this world."

"That _would_ explain the lack of information. If it deleted everything about it, then to the Darkness this was just an ordinary world." Ti'ana realised.

"So either the Darkness left the Grimm because it saw through the act and wanted to destroy this world; or he did it to be a complete dick. Either one would be in character for him." Katie shrugged.

"As fascinating as this is, it doesn't help get us one step closer to getting our ships back. Or getting back home." Bianca replied.

"Actually, it does. On both accounts." Tyrion replied. "Huntsmen are often sent out into the wilderness on missions; to wipe out groups of Grimm threatening the populace, or to investigate ancient ruins. If we could tap into their database without getting in trouble, we could find our ships again. And the fact that the Darkness has been here has given me an idea. We know that the Vex worship it because it is beyond their comprehension. And we also know that they can travel through both space _and_ time. And finally, we know that there are likely dormant networks on almost every planet in our system."

They started understanding. "Which means there might be a possibility that there's a network on this world. And a way to get back home."

"Well, all in favour of trying to bullshit our way into a Huntsmen group and snoop in on their info, say I." Katie joked.

"Not yet. While you three are skilled enough to be considered Huntresses, there are a couple of skills you don't have yet that are considered fundamental to being a Huntsman. The key one is the ability to fight close _and_ long range. Almost every huntsman's weapon can transform into an alternate weapon and therefore fill a separate role. The most common is to have a ranged weapon transform into a melee weapon."

"Wow. Hardcore." Ti'ana muttered. She had to admit, that would come in handy. She's lost count of the number of times she had to beat a bunch of Vandals or Thralls with a stick when they charged her en masse.

Luckily for us, we get cheat a bit. We'll start working on possible blueprints. In the meantime, let's land somewhere private and start training."

"We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

* * *

**(2 days later)**

Ozpin was a bit surprised that someone would try and apply at Beacon as a tutor. He looked up from his scroll – listing quite a bit about these 'Guardians' – and gave the three women before him a good look. They certainly looked rather unusual, even with many of the unique eye-catching designs the younger generation seemed to favour.

The one at the far left of him was dressed similar to a knight, modified to fit in with modern times. She was covered in dark gold armour with dark highlights, and her helmet was bare save for a pulsating set of circles. Her legs were covered with a lot of armour plating, especially around the knees, most likely for hitting people or things with them. Her chestplate was pointed, as though she rammed things with it. But given how much it stuck out, she must either pierced through people or had a massive rack under it. Lastly, there was a long white-and-yellow cloth hanging from her hip. He only saw a glimpse of it, but he could've sworn there was a tower on the side. She was staring straight at him in a familiar military pose. Evidently, she had done previous work in armed forces for one of the kingdoms.

The next woman right in front of him was the only one not still wearing their helmet, revealing a dark skinned lady with blond hair and markings. Her yellow-and-grey armour was mostly a mishmash of armour and cloth, making it seem as though she had put it all together herself. The two most striking things about her was her chest plate, marked with the face of a winged wolf; and her long white cape dragging on the floor. She was trying her best to appear attentive, but he could see her squirm in the chair, impatient to get to work.

And finally, the woman on the far right. Her head was also covered in a helmet, a grey encompassing helm with a muted blue faceplate. Looking into it seemed to almost draw him in, whispering about impossibilities. She was glancing around at his office, taking in every detail as she waited. She was also dressed in a long coat marked with straps everywhere, and with one side longer than the other. On her left arm was a strange band with three white holographic cubes on it, though what it meant was beyond him.

Yes, while they were not the strangest people he had met, they were certainly up there.

"So, Miss Aqua." He addressed the knight and the leader of the three. "What was it about teaching that seems to have drawn you three of the battlefield? According to your files, you're all certainly capable enough to be out there clearing out forests."

"Yes, but we won't be here forever." She replied with a sultry voice. Nevertheless, he could hear the steel of a soldier under it. "Eventually we'll grow old, or make a mistake, or simply run into too many Grimm. So we all decided to bring our skill and knowledge to ensuring that the next generation of huntsmen are at their peak."

"And what made you choose Beacon? It said here that you three came from a remote village out in the wildlands beyond Vale. Quite a journey just to take up a teaching position. And quite frankly, we're not really recruiting at the moment. All positions have been covered."

"True, but we encountered several powerful and dangerous Grimm while out on routine patrols. After the fifth time, we were worried that the students might run into something simply beyond their level to fight. It's hardly their fault if it happens after all."

"But you would do them an injustice by coddling them. If they're not exposed to the harsh reality of being a huntsman, then they won't be fully prepared when they graduate. And then all their deaths would be on our heads."

"We understand. We're not asking to coddle them. We simply want to be a form of back up, in case they come under fire. We'd do them all a great injustice too if we don't help defend them from events simply beyond their control."

"True." He admitted. There had been deaths in the past because a routine assignment had gone catastrophically wrong as a Flock of Adult Nevermores swooped down at them, or they ran into a den of Death Stalkers. And he had to admit, he was rather curious about the capabilities of the Guardians. He had never really heard of them before.

Well, except for once.

"Perhaps we could agree to a trial run for now. We can test your skill and see if you're as good as your file says you are, and maybe after that we could send you with the next group of students leaving Beacon and watch how things go. But if we do, you need to remember some important facts. You are not their babysitter, and you're not expected to behave like one. If a student gets knocked about by some Grimm because they were too pig-headed, then that's _their_ fault. Their teammates should be able to save them. But if they can't, and someone's in real danger of dying, then you may step in. Not before then. Am I clear?"

"Crystal, sir." They stood up, with Tiana Aqua saluting him, Bianca Gaea shaking his hand, and Katie Steel bowing to him. As they left, Glynda watched them as she entered the room. Only when they were alone did she speak.

"Ozpin, you can't honestly be thinking about hiring them." She said to him. "I've gone over every detail about their history. Our records show nothing like what they said in it. Even if you accept that they live in a highly remote area, we should have something by now. Not to mention that only one of them showed her face. They could be criminals for all we know."

"Actually Glynda, I highly doubt that." He replied, still at his desk. "If they criminals, then they would've been noticed only recently by us. Perhaps even 2 nights ago, when strange people in long cloaks attacked the CCT. But there is something else that I want to watch them for." He tapped at his screen, bringing up an old translated inscription they recovered from a secret project. "'Be wary of the Guardians. For they are The Traveller's Might. Be wary of the Guardians, for they bring death to all.'"

"I believe that we may have found some of these 'Guardians'."


	2. That Had To Ruin Their Day

**Hey there. I know I've got a lot of things going on right now, and I really shouldn't add another story to my list. But I suddenly got the urge to finish another chapter, help introduce more about our characters. It'll probably be a while before I update this again (then again, I said that the last time too), so I'll probably only update this when I get a Destiny idea bouncing around in my skull.**

Chapter 2: That Had To Ruin Their Day

"Who are those three?" Yang asked, watching the three newcomers enter the dining hall. They were clearly women, but they were wearing full-body outfits, and even their faces were covered. They quickly moved to the lunch bar, grabbing a plate and piling on as much food as possible. Team RWBY wasn't the only ones watching them. They seemed to have the air of professional huntresses, the kind of people who seemed as at ease in the midst of a Grimm ambush as they were back in civilisation. Strangely, they weren't carrying any weapons around. Maybe they felt they didn't need them right now. Ruby really wanted to see what kind of weapons they would use. Maybe a collapsible staff, or a gun-sword, or a giant axe-drill.

"They're probably just a team of Hunters returning from a hard assignment." Weiss replied, barely looking up from her nails. "Isn't that obvious?"

"They don't look like normal huntresses. And their armour doesn't even look stained. They can't have just come back from some mission." Yang argued. Blake looked up from her book long enough to roll their eyes at them. "And why are they still wearing helmets?"

"Then maybe they're making a short stop before leaving, and want to have something cooked to eat before they get reduced to slimy old meat or something." Weiss rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you're treating this like some form of conspiracy. Not everything is a big mystery."

"Only all the things that involves us."

"Quiet. Miss Glynda's approaching them." Ruby interrupted the argument. The three huntresses had been standing around for a bit, each with a large pile of food; far more than what could normally be eaten by one person (unless they were called Nora). Glynda had walked in and noticed them, deciding to take pity and talk to them. "Let's get closer. I want to hear what's going on."

"Ruby, wait." Weiss tried to stop her, but she and Yang had already rushed off. Grumbling to herself, she followed them to another empty table closer to the Huntresses. Now, they would be able to hear them.

"Hello." Glynda greeted them. "I am Miss Glynda Goodwitch, Headmaster Ozpin's assistant. I trust that everything is satisfactory?"

"Oh yeah, this place looks great. And this food looks really delicious. But uh, we're just wondering where our rooms might be." The hooded huntress replied, her face covered by some kind of mask. It looked strange, more like a glaring monster than a person.

"I can lead you to them, but I must ask that you eat your meal in the dining hall with everyone else."

"Uh, no. You see… uh…" She stopped, as though she was listening to someone's voice. "Ti'ana's got some nasty scars all over her face. Yeah. And-and Katie's actually a… you-know."

"I like to believe that our students won't take any offence to her species, but if it's that big a deal to you then I suppose we could bend the rule for you." She walked out of the room, the three huntresses rushing to catch up to her. Team RWBY looked at each other in confusion. Why did they have to eat alone? Sure, the scars were probably pretty bad, but there were plenty of Huntsmen with nasty scars who didn't try to hide them. Some of them even saw it as a mark of victory, as saying they were so badass that they didn't let a little thing like getting half their face mauled off stop them. And if she was implying that one of her teammates was a Faunus that still didn't mean she would've been the only one.

"Wow." Their friend Jaune said as they sat back down at their table. "They've barely been in the room for five minutes and already everyone's talking about them. Nora just regaled us a story about how they're secretly aliens that are plotting to take all our cheese back to build their moon." They snorted, amazed at the insane things she kept coming up with.

"I think they're secretly spies for an evil dictator preparing to take over the world, and they snuck in here to destroy the only thing that could ever stop him. Ozpin's coffee mug." Yang regaled them.

"Actually, your old theory of how they're lying about being huntresses made a lot more sense than that." Weiss replied.

It was pretty much like that for another hour, with every story Ruby heard more outlandish than the last. Things like how they're secretly heiresses to powerful families and have snuck here to escape their fate; to the one about how they're figments of the mind, fooling everyone to steal pancakes (this one, surprisingly, was not from Nora). Honestly, she couldn't understand why everyone was so talkative about those three. Huntresses _have_ come to the school on a regular basis. After all, the academies were where they picked up their bounties. And yet everyone was treating this like it was different from normal. It was weird.

"Ah, welcome class." Professor Port said warmly as he stood by his classroom door. A large, portly man, he usually spent most of his lessons 'entertaining' them with stories from his days as a huntsman. It was interesting at times, but mostly she just doodled in her book or had a little snooze. "As much as I would love to continue telling you of the time I fended off a dozen Ursai in nothing but my small clothes," (oh god, her mind went to very horrible places at that) "Miss Goodwitch asked me to lead you all down to the Arena for an announcement and a demonstration." The class started getting excited at that. It was always amazing to see a proper huntsman in action. As they were led down the halls towards the arena, they all started gossiping over who was going to be fighting. Was it Glynda herself? Or were they going to see Professor Port or Oobleck in action long after their prime? Or were they finally going to see Headmaster Ozpin in action? The suspense was nearly killing Ruby. The only one not looking interested was Blake. She still had her head in a book. As they entered the main floor of the arena, they were all amazed to see Miss Goodwitch standing alongside the three new huntresses. This was even better than she expected. The classes' murmuring grew even louder until Goodwitch gave them all a look.

"Good afternoon class." She said to them. "Now, Beacon is an academy that believes that coddling you will simply do more harm in the long run than letting you learn danger and when to retreat at your own pace. However, Headmaster Ozpin has decided that there are some scenarios beyond our control that one cannot learn anything from. So, he has decided to set up a 'safety net' for possibly highly lethal situations. Before you stands our Huntsman Response Team. Allow me to introduce Miss Ti'ana Aqua," the knight saluted them, "Miss Bianca Gaea," the caped huntress nodded, "and Miss Katie Steel." The woman in a robe bowed at them. "They say they are a unique branch of Huntsmen known as Guardians, and so will be demonstrating their skills to us all. If they preform adequately, then you can expect to find them around the academy. So, on that note could all students please move to higher ground." Whispering to each other excitedly, everyone scrambled to find the best seat to see them in action. Guardians. What a weird title. But it could mean that they were the best huntresses from wherever they came from. Miss Goodwitch never really said which kingdom they were from. Miss Gaea and Miss Steel moved away from the center of the room, the three of them spaced out evenly. Ruby was kinda curious as to why they did that. Unless it was a special case, arena fights were usually one on one. She soon understood as Goodwitch nodded to Professor Port, who opened a large door at one end of the arena from a control panel. Grimm, a whole pack of Beowolves, Ursai and even some Boarbatusks came streaming in. Right. They doubted Port could've captured enough Grimm for three individual fights. The Guardians nodded to each other and pulled out their weapons. Miss Aqua had a strange stub-nosed orange rifle with a white V symbol on the side, while Miss Gaea had a large pistol with similar colourisation. It was big enough that she needed both hands to hold it steady. And Miss Steel had the weirdest looking weapon. It looked like some kind of junker, cobbled together from parts and tied with leather straps. But what was most interesting was the bird skull and bones adorning it. It was like some kind of tribal tool rather than a real weapon. The three of them stood ready, waiting with baited breath.

And then the Grimm charged.

Even from all the fights Ruby had watched over the years, this one was one of the more one sided ones. Whatever guns they were using were incredibly strong. It only took one or two bullets to blow a Grimm's head to pieces, with the shots that only hit the body still punching holes. They worked together as a team, one taking over while another reloaded their weapon. She couldn't see where they pulled the ammo from. It was like it just appeared in their hands. But the Grimm were rather numerous. Enough that several of them managed to make it within striking distance despite the assault. Undeterred, Ti'ana punched the lead Grimm in the face. It was thrown back by the force, turning into lightning before fading away. While she did so, she flipped her rifle over so that she held it by the barrel and an axe blade formed over the stock. She started swinging with it with ease, slicing through Grimm. The barrel extended so that she could hit further and with more force, while Bianca swept through them with a sword and a dagger. And Katie spun through them with a bone quarterstaff, spinning it and throwing around some kind of plasma while punching with some kind of semblance field at any that got past. It only took them a minute to reduce a sizable amount of Grimm to dust and shadow.

"Well now. I see that Ozpin made yet another brave decision." Goodwitch said to them. "Though I suppose we'll just have to test later how you fare solo. But for now, consider yourselves members of the faculty. We'll work out the details later." She faced the class. "Now that you've seen your new teachers in action, please return to our class for your regular lessons. That is all." She walked off, while the Guardians holstered their weapons and left the room. They seemed to be talking to each other, but Ruby couldn't hear a single word.

"Wow." Yang said as they walked off. "I'll admit, that was pretty amazing. They just tore through those Grimm like butter."

"They were rather impressive, yes." Weiss replied. "But their technique was rather uninspiring. They fought like they weren't used to close-range battles, leaving themselves open to retaliation."

"True. But their bullets are certainly powerful to have blasted holes in such strong Grimm." Their friend Pyrrha added. "They most likely focus on long range attacks instead of duking it out hand to hand."

"Well, what did you think of them, Ruby?" Jaune asked her.

"I think… that they were totally awesome." She squealed. "And their weapons were so cool. Oh, I can't wait to work with them. I bet that right now, they're planning the most awesome tricks to wow and amaze us."

* * *

"Finally, we can take our helmets off." Ti'ana sighed as she flopped back on the bed. "I'm sick of having to wear this all the time. Stupid No-Awoken world."

"You know, I don't think we did too badly. Even if Devil's calibration had been knocked about." Bianca said, sitting at the desk and placing her gun on the surface. Tyrion lifted it up and ran a diagnostic for any faults.

"My fault." He apologised. "I must've gotten the sights out of alignment when I was modifying it. We'll do a check up on all your weapons, make sure that everything's working perfectly." Their ghosts materialised their guns, placing them around the room. Ti'ana laid back on the bed, getting herself comfortable as her ghost removed her armour plating. She wasn't sure what she'd do without Little Light. Well, she'd probably still be a corpse somewhere in the remnants of France. To this day, she still couldn't remember why she was there. She was just about to ask Light to play some music when they heard knocking at their door.

"Shit." She hissed. "Everyone, hide everything." Light created her helmet for her as all the weapons faded away. Checking that none of her skin was showing, she opened the door to find Ozpin standing outside it. If he was surprised by her current state of undress, he didn't show it.

"Sorry for interrupting your personal time." He apologised. "I partly wanted to congratulate you three on becoming a part of Beacon Academy. But I also wanted to go over some matters with you. May I come in?"

Ti'ana shrugged. "It's your school." She led him in, eyes wandering to the others to make sure they had hidden everything. Katie was reading a strange holographic pad, while Bianca was fiddling with her gun like she knew what she was doing. Apart from that, their ghosts and weapons were all stashed away, out of sight and out of mind.

"Thank you. Now, given that you said you came from a forest area from near Mistral, I'm assuming you have some form of transportation of your own? We may need you three to move quickly if things get problematic."

"_I've done a scan on all airship designs of the last 20 years."_ Light said to her, his voice sounding only in her head. _"It may turn a few heads, but I think your spaceship is within acceptable design parameters."_

"We do." She nodded. "It's design and propulsion is a bit unorthodox, and we were worried about where exactly to land it. So we left it hovering near the forest."

"I see. We have areas where you could park your airship while staying here, but I'm afraid that you'll have to put up with people staring at it. But it'll be better here with us than wasting fuel over a dangerous forest. Would you like an escort to go and get it?"

"Ti'ana's got remote access to its systems. She can engage the autopilot from here." Katie said. Bianca nearly dropped her gun in surprise that she would reveal something like that. "Guardians often require a fast ship to come and rescue them in case things get rather hectic during our missions."

"Hmm. Yes, that would make sense. Program it to land at the front of the academy for now. Once we've seen it, we can assign a more permanent docking bay for you."

"Thank you." She had been a bit worried about getting fuel for her ship. They can run for a long time, but not forever. And she didn't want to land it in a Grimm filled forest and steal from a possible military base. Their first outing was proof enough that they weren't going to get away so easily a second time. "Is there anything else?"

"There is. As a member of our faculty, you are all expected to act as inspirations to our students. You cannot break any rule while working here, both school rules and Vale laws. You can only drink when off duty, and only within the limit. I'll send a full list of the rules to your scrolls, but to put it simply if you do not toe the line, you _will_ be fired."

"Understood sir. We'll treat this like we're on a mission."

"Good. I'll give you a couple of days to familiarise yourselves with the academy before you can take teams out into the forest for training." He moved to leave before remembering something. "Oh, one more thing. There's a team here who have a rather interesting habit of ending up in the wrong place at the right time. Team RWBY. Keep a closer eye on them, as a favour for me."

"You think they might get into trouble?"

"I think that trouble has a way of finding them. Good day." He closed the door behind him, letting the three guardians sigh in relief.

"Thank the Traveller. I thought he'd never leave." Ti'ana sighed. She stumbled as Bianca pushed past her rushing to get in Katie's face.

"What the hell were you thinking, mentioning the autopilot?" She raged, trying to keep her voice down. "We have no idea what is considered normal technology here. For all we know, autopilots are impossible. You could've blown our cover."

"Which is why I was looking up on current technological capabilities while you two were busy with Ozpin." Katie argued, waving around a flat white screen. "You've got the least to worry about. At least you're still human. If they find out about me and Ti'ana, then we'll be stuck in a lab before you can say 'alien'." Katie was right. But Bianca was always a bit hot-headed.

"Well, what about the fuel? How do we even know they use the same thing we use? Or even if our propulsion systems are similar. Don't you think someone would get suspicious when they see our warp drive?"

"Enough." Ti'ana pushed them apart. "Bianca, we can still control the flow of information. We can say that we prefer looking after our ships personally. There are some things we're going to have to reveal if we don't want people suspecting that we're hiding something. And Katie, at least run it through us before you reveal potentially compromising information."

"Well… We just received the data Ozpin said he would send us if anyone's interested." Light filled the silence as best as he could. "I think it might be best to at least use some glimmer to create your scrolls. At least so we can fit in." He materialised the same white plastic thing that Katie had been looking at. Turning it over and studying it, Ti'ana found that if you pulled it open it would reveal a semi solid sheet that projected images. It instantly made her think of that old-fashioned 'cell phone' she had found on a mission. Little Light had called it an 'IPhone'. As soon as she opened it, it immediately started showing her a list, most likely the school rules that they were expected to follow.

"Do we have any data on this Team RWBY?" She asked, promising to look over the list later tonight. As a Guardian, the need to know all security measures had been ingrained into her.

"As a matter of fact, we do. I used a back-trace on the data we were sent, establishing a direct feed into their database. I can't pluck sensitive data from it without accessing the physical core, but we can remotely access any public knowledge without worries." His eye lit up, broadcasting a large screen with four faces on it. "What I've found just goes to show how varied the Huntsmen teams are here. Did you know that the team names are actually made up of first or last name initials from every member?" They just gave him a look. "And you don't really care. Right then. Their team leader goes by the name Ruby Rose." His screen showed a young dark-haired girl with red highlights, wearing what looked like a black blouse, skirt and a red cape. It made Ti'ana think of the Pre-Golden Age story about Red Riding Hood.

"Hmm. Looks a little young to be fighting the Darkness." Bianca noted.

"She kind of is. You're supposed to be at least 17 to get into Beacon academy, with the younger generation going to Signal Academy instead. Miss Rose is only 15, according to the database." His screen showed Ruby outside a store and fighting some gangsters. In her hands was a large red scythe, and she was using it to smack around the men fighting her. "Apparently, Ozpin moved her ahead due to her nearly stopping a Dust robbery on her own."

Katie whistled. "So she's pretty good for her age. Must be why the group is named after her.

"The next member, most likely the second in command, is Weiss Schnee. Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company." His screen now showed a girl in complete opposites to Ruby. A dignified looking girl with long white hair and an ornate light blue dress. At her waist was a stylised rapier. And while Ruby looked as cheerful and bubbly as any child would be, she seemed more withdrawn and serious. They recognised that kind of stoicism from back at the Tower. "I can see why Ozpin would want us to keep a close eye on her."

"What, because she's from a rich family?" Bianca asked.

"More than that. The Schnee Dust Company has been accused of using Faunus slave labour in their mining operations, and the White Fang have been at constant war with them and anyone who works with them."

"Making her a high valued target for terrorists." Ti'ana frowned. Maybe that was why she looked so sour. Because every day she had to worry that a Faunus would try to grab her. And maybe worse. "I'm sure the academy is already keeping an eye on her, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have another pair just in case."

"Right." Light's screen now showed a dark-haired girl wearing a little black bow on top. She seemed just as stoic as Ms Schnee. Her outfit seemed to be a jumble of different items, with purple stockings leading up to white shorts, a black top over a white undershirt, and a ribbon around her right arm. "Blake Belladonna. For some strange reason, the academy has almost nothing on her. It's like she just appeared out of thin air."

"That _is_ weird. Do you think she might be an assassin? Or a terrorist?" Katie asked. Ti'ana shook her head. She doubted Ozpin would let a possible terrorist run around the school. There could be something more innocent going on.

"Well whatever the reason, I'm sure Ozpin has it covered." His screen now showed an older blond girl before them. She wore a short brown jacket that barely seemed to hold her breasts, the yellow shirt underneath actually straining to hold her. She wore very short black shorts, covered partially by a brown mark/skirt.

"And what's her story? Some mythical princess? Or a science experiment, perhaps?" Bianca asked.

"Database shows that she's simply Ruby Rose's older sister." They all blinked, looking at her and then an image of Ruby. "Half-sisters, most likely. But apart from that, there's nothing really noteworthy about her in the database."

"So we've got to keep a closer eye on those four girls in case they do something stupid." Bianca summed things up. "How hard can that be? They're just kids."

"According to records, these kids were already seen twice at crime areas where a 'Roman Torchwick' had attacked, fighting off his men." The scrolls started playing a video of a blond-haired man with a tail fighting alongside Blake against a man in a white suit. Though the angle was a bit off, they could see the man in the suit spinning a cane and blocking every shot fired at him. And the tailed man was using…

"What kind of shotgun is _that_?" Ti'ana wondered. It looked like it was two pairs of shotguns attached together by a length of steel rope at the ends. The tailed man was spinning them around him, holding one pair under his arm before striking out with it and firing at the same time. It was a near unending barrage of firepower and awesomeness.

"My records indicate that they're also an old martial art weapon known as nun chucks. They were once popular in the late 20th century amongst civilians, along with videos of people hitting themselves with them."

"Man, I wouldn't want to come across that guy on my own." Bianca muttered in awe.

"So what do we do now?" Ti'ana asked Light, already sorting through her equipment to modify the components. It paid to have all weapons altered to best suit the current fight and opponent.

"Well at some point we'll need to insert a Trojan program into the academy's database. That way we can access sensitive data at any time, along with receive notifications on anything recorded that matches up to our missing ships. And we've already set up a connection that fools the system into thinking that we're scrolls. But apart from all that, there's not really much we _can_ do right now. I guess we'll just have to prepare ourselves and wait for the academy to inform us of which teams we'll be accompanying."

"I'm still not comfortable about this whole 'teaching' thing. I kinda doubt that real Huntresses act more professionally to us, what with the whole 'only die once' stuff." Bianca said.

"It'll be easy." Katie consoled her. "Just pretend that you've got an unstoppable bounty, act like it's a darkness zone, and you'll be fine." Her Ghost's eye started flashing as he projected a list. "Well, looks like I've got some teaching to do. I'm heading out with a couple of groups. Teams CRDL and HOPE. This ought to be fun." She gave herself a check over, making sure everything was prepared, before leaving them with a wave. Bianca decided to have a little nap before she was called up.

And Ti'ana chose to make sure her ship had arrived alright.

* * *

It arrived without a scratch, just as expected. However, as also predicted it attracted a large crowd of students not busy with classes or missions. Now that it had arrived and Ms Glynda was able to properly appraise it, she gave Ti'ana coordinates to an appropriate sized hanger under the academy. She watched as the students followed the Phaeton's departure, whispering to each other. She immediately noticed Ms Ruby Rose staring at her and her ship with wide-eyed wonder. It was actually rather cute. She wondered if she was ever like that when she was younger. It wasn't the worst way to spend your childhood.

"Psst. Ti'ana." She nearly started as she heard Advice's voice in her helmet. He must be connected to Little Light to speak to her. "You've got to let me talk to that Rose babe. I need to make a 'connection' to her. It's a matter of life or death. Well, maybe not _that_ bad."

She frowned. "Advice, I'm not helping you chat up Ms Rose. She's not even of legal age, and she's a human. I don't even want to imagine how you're going to make a 'connection' with her."

"No, not the human. Her sister, _Crescent_ Rose. She and I are meant to be. Star-crossed lovers and all that." She blinked in surprise.

"…On second thought, can we go back to you apparently lusting over a human? That's a bit _less_ weird than this."

"Oh, hah ha. Weapons have feelings too, you know."

"No, _Exo_ have feelings. _Frames_ have feelings. _Sarcastic artificial intelligences_ have feelings. This, this is like falling in love with a statue."

"…Point taken, but that's one fine statue. I mean, have you _seen_ her curves? Ohhh, I can't wait to put a round in _her_." And then he purred. Really purred. She would've laughed if he wasn't so serious. "Come on, please. Be my wingman. My winglady. If you help me, I'll work on my micro-transmat protocol so that I can retrieve bullets 84 percent of the time. Promise."

"Alright, alright. I'm sure there's some way of letting you see Crescent Rose in action. Somehow." The crowd was disbursing now that her ship had gone, whispering amongst themselves about their newest member. She ignored most of it, pushing gently through as she spied Ms Rose's noticeable red cape. "Excuse me, Ms Ruby Rose?" She asked, finally getting a hand on her shoulder. The girl turned and looked at her in surprise. Obviously she wasn't expecting to be approached. "I was just having a look at the files of the students here, and I have to say that yours is very interesting."

"It is?" She squeaked. Ti'ana nodded.

"You're the youngest student here by at least two years, yet you were chosen to be your team leader. And I don't think it was just because they named the team after you. Not to mention the fact that you got noticed when you took down a small gang of criminals and then chased after their leader. A pity he got away, but that still no small feat."

"Oh, well…" She gave a nervous laugh. "I was just doing what anyone else would've done."

"Maybe. But not everyone else could've handled themselves so well. If you don't mind me asking, could I see you in action? Just to get a feel for your strengths and weaknesses?"

"Me? You want to test… me?" She was almost bouncing she was so excited. "Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Oh, let's head to the training arena right now. Oh, this is going to be so exciting." She almost rushed off, before Ti'ana grabbed her by the scruff of her uniform.

"Easy there kid. I'm not going to vanish in the next few minutes. There's no need to rush. Besides, I'm still not completely sure where everything is yet."

"I can generate for you a map of the complex on your HUD at any time, along with creating a way-point for the training arena." Light reminded her. But she ignored him.

"Right. Sorry. I'm just a bit… excited to meet you. I was in the class that saw your fight against the Grimm before. You and your team were amazing." She was taking things a bit slower now, walking alongside her as they headed towards the arena. "You guys were exactly like I'd imagine a proper Huntress team would be like. I really liked how that Beowolf was like right up in your face, and you were like 'Out of my way, furface', and then you punched it, and it vanished like 'bzzt'. That was so awesome. How did you do that? Is it related to your semblance?"

"Sort of." Ti'ana puzzled over how she'd explain having two 'semblances'. "Where we're from, Guardians are those born with more one Semblance. We don't know how that's possible, but we do know that there's really only 6 to go with. Those six are split into three groups, and you usually get one pair only."

"Oooh. That's so amazing. What Semblances are there to choose from?"

"Be careful not to say too much Ti'ana." Light warned her. "We don't want to slip up and reveal that we don't know anything about this world."

"Well, first off is the Titan set. We call those two Striker and Defender. The Striker cla… Semblance is all about hitting things hard. Whether it through punching an enemy into dust, slamming into them with your shoulder, or even jumping down on them from above, a striker is all about shock and awe. We usually act like a really big and in-your-face distraction while our teammates pick Grimm off from afar. The Defender class is also meant to serve as a distraction, but they work by being too tough to take down. We can use our semblance to create a temporary personal barrier around ourselves, soaking up damage long enough to do some damage of our own. But our greatest ability is to create a larger bubble shield to shelter us and our team. It can stop even the heaviest assault, but unfortunately enemies can still enter it to kill you with melee. But _we_ get some little bonuses for being inside it."

"I guess that's meant more for gunfire, huh?" Ruby noted.

"It is. Sometimes the most dangerous enemy is one of your own." Ti'ana said. "The next Semblances are grouped under the Hunter class. They can use the Gunslinger and the Bladedancer abilities."

Ruby giggled. "Sounds like those are pretty straight-forward about what they do."

"Hunters prefer things to be quick and easy. But there's a bit more to it than you think. Gunslingers are meant to be a near endless stream of bullets and knives, stopping only for a second to reload. And their Golden Gun, their greatest skill, is incredibly powerful. It's…" She slowed, wondering what would seem impressive.

"Based on numerical data, the three rounds of a Golden gun could kill a Nevermore with ease." Little Light supplied her. "Maybe even two if you aimed for the head." She repeated this to Ruby, her eyes gleaming in amazement. Evidently, these 'Nevermores' were pretty powerful.

"So what else can Bladedancer do, besides doing cool blade-y tricks?" She asked.

"Well as you'd expect from the name, Bladedancers can use their Semblances to charge their blades, allowing their strikes to carve through almost any kind of enemy. Bianca, our Hunter, managed to slice through an Ursa with one strike. But they can also generate effects to augment their impressive skills. They can use their Semblance to make them invisible for a time, hiding them until they finally strike out. With careful consideration, a lone Bladedancer can clear a room of enemies by themselves. And they can create powerful energy waves by slamming their blades against the ground."

"Oh, this so exciting. What about the last two? What can they do? What cool, awesome, and utterly amazing things can they do?"

"Calm down, before you pass out." Ti'ana laughed. "The last class is known as the Warlock class. They are considered the most mysterious of the Guardian classes. They use the Voidwalker and Sunsinger Semblances. Voidwalkers can tap into some strange energy to create explosive orbs of darkness to tear through the Grimm, teleport elsewhere, and drain the life from their enemies to fuel their strength. But the Sunsinger is considered the best sight on the battlefield. Their Semblance can empower those around them, causing our Semblances to be used more often than before."

"Used more often?"

"Yes. We… We need to recharge our semblances to use them again. Luckily for us, they seem to gain strength from the fall of our enemies, and the use of another Guardian's Semblance. Now, as I was about to say, Sunsingers can also attack with the flames of the sun, burning enemies alive."

"That's… That's so awesome. Most of us just have to stick with only one semblance."

"And I bet you guys can do impressive stuff with that 'one semblance'." Ti'ana replied, realising that they had reached the training hall while talking. She sat down in one of the lowest level seats while Ruby got out her weapon. What started off as a metal box barely wider than Ruby's hips had unfolded into a truly impressive scythe. Ruby looked at Ti'ana expectantly, a bit surprised to see her sitting down.

"Aren't you going to get ready for our fight?" She asked.

"Oh, no. I'm worried I might end up hurting you. Guardian weapons are built with the intent to kill anything that ends up in our way. We're not supposed to fight each other with them. Besides, I think I can notice your skill better when I'm not worried about you hitting me over the head with your scythe. Does the academy have some kind of training dummy system?"

"Um, I don't think so. At least, I've never used it before. I usually tested myself against other hunters. My tutors said that the best training is against a proper moving target, not some android. Besides, my Aura should be able to handle anything you hit me with."

Ti'ana sighed. "Ok. But just to be on the safe side, I'm not even going to consider shooting you." She got back up and walked into the ring, thankful that she had at least kept her Scout Rifle with her at all times. She grabbed it by the barrel and let the blade fold out. They stood facing each other for what felt like minutes, but would've only been seconds. She suddenly remembered when they attacked Atheon. They had waited until they were certain they were ready before continuing on to his position. She glanced up to see a holographic board showing her face, a green bar underneath. And next to it was one for Ruby. Seeing it reminded her of just how much more fragile she was compared to Ti'ana. She would have to take things easier against her.

Another moment of silence. And then they struck.

Ti'ana cursed as she barely blocked Ruby's blade, her shield taking a big hit. She ducked under it and lashed out with her axe, though Ruby had already moved back. She disappeared into thin air, leaving rose petals in her wake before reappearing somewhere else. Working quickly, Ti'ana tapped away at a holographic panel to engage her personal shield, charging straight at Ruby again. The young girl folded her scythe into a rifle, blasting away at her as she got closer. But her shields managed to bear it long enough for her to get within range. Ruby jumped overhead as she ran past, swinging her scythe straight down. Ti'ana felt the blade clip her armour, her shields now in the red. With little else to do, she punched out at Crescent itself. Her imbued attack managed to blast it out of Ruby's hands, causing her to shake them in pain. Ti'ana charged her again, but she rolled aside and vanished again. Knowing where she was heading, Ti'ana spun on a dime and extended her axe, jumping up to slam it down by Crescent Rose. Unfortunately, that was right where Ruby was. The axe slammed into her hard enough to crack the ground. For a moment, she thought she had killed the young girl. It was only when she looked up to see her health bar in the yellow that she finally breathed. She folded her weapon up and holstered it, approaching the young lady now massaging her head.

"I think it might be a good idea to call it a draw." She said as she offered a hand. Ruby grinned sheepishly as she took it. "I was seriously worried I did some damage to you. It was only because of your Aura that you're still alive."

"Yeah, that _was_ a pretty strong blow. You're a lot stronger than you look. Still, at least I managed to do some dama…" She trailed off as she looked at the board, her Aura half gone and Ti'ana's still full. "What?! But I hit you. I got you really good with my attack."

"A Guardian's Aura is weaker than yours, but as you can see it regenerates quickly. And it heals us too. Unless it's a killing blow, a Guardian can get back up and keep fighting." _And even then it isn't permanent._ She thought to herself. "But you did well. If I didn't have that regenerating Aura, you would've beaten me. Guardians aren't as fast as you." From the way Ruby was beaming, you'd think Ti'ana had told her that the Traveller had called directly for her.

"Thanks. A lot of people don't think I actually deserve to be here on merit. They all think that I just know someone important, and they got me here just for that. It's nice to hear someone think that I'm here by being as tough as everyone else."

"Well tough people tend to go and get their wounds looked at, Little Miss Badass." Ti'ana said, nearly poking the bruise on her forehead. It was healing up, but it wouldn't hurt to double check. "And thanks for showing me some moves. To be honest, I've never left my home before now. It's nice to see how skilled people are out in the world."

Thanks. Hey, I know that you're an adult and I'm just a teen, but if you want to we could hang out sometime. I really want to have a look at your weapons."

"We'll see." Hopefully Little Light would offer her some way to distract her from examining the weapons too closely. "I'd best head on over to the hangers, make sure my ship got there alright and stuff. Maybe we'll meet again when I get called to escort you guys through a mission." She waved goodbye to Ruby and walked away, the young girl actually skipping off to the infirmary. "I take it that you liked what you saw?"

"She was amazing." Advice answered. "Did you see those fine curves of her? Her sharpened blade? And how quickly and easily she changed shapes? She's got some punch to her too. She's perfect. And that Ruby girl sure knows how to treat a weapon. You could almost eat off that blade. Am I using the term correctly?"

"You are. Not the kind of date I would've enjoyed though, fighting against her."

"No, you seem to prefer fighting alongside your love, lying back atop a field of dead."

"That was a one…two time thing." Still, she got out Light and had him project an image from his database. It was her with a Warlock, standing at The Tower A-5 with their helmets off. She was leaning against him, one arm draped over his shoulder and the other holding onto a Vex Gate Lord head. He was standing smugly, holding onto the Gate Lord's eye. He had long brown hair and pale skin, a brown V tattoo covering his face. At the bottom of the image, it had an inscription. 'Solus and Ti'ana. Put aside their slapping to punch out a Gate Lord'. She remembered that as the time they finally stopped arguing all the time and truly got became something more.

She worried that she'd never see him again.

* * *

**There we go. We finally see them in action against the Grimm. The way I see Guardians compared to Hunters is that Guardians pack more of a punch. Their guns and Light hit harder than Remnant's weapons, mostly because they've been in a war against several other races. On the other hand, Hunters have a big variety of powers, and their Aura are stronger than Guardians. On the other hand to the other hand, Guardians can regenerate at incredible levels, when a dark god isn't stopping your light. So Guardians are unskilled, but strong; Hunters are weak, but skilled. That's how I see them.**

**And yeah, some people are probably wondering why they would reveal so much about themselves when they're trying to be discreet. It'll probably look more suspicious if they can use two Semblances each without explanation. And since they're pretending to be from a remote area of Remnant, it should be enough. Unless they're dealing with someone like Ozpin.**

**And finally, Solus. He's based on my best friend's Warlock. We'll learn more about how Ti'ana and Solus met, but let's just say that they had a rocky start. It doesn't reflect how me and my friend met (we got on like a house on fire), but it'd be perfect between an intellectual and a warrior.**

**Oh, one last thing. Ozpin having them watch out for team RWBY? Considering the stuff they end up getting involved in, Ozpin's plan is to see what the Guardians do in a crisis.**


	3. There Once Was a Woman From Venus

**Chapter 3: There Once Was a Woman From Venus…**

_She was in a fancy home, sitting atop a hill in a countryside somewhere. The sun was shining brightly upon them, lighting up the dining table set up for a party. She was so happy when she saw it, the large white cake surrounded by presents and with a dozen candles glowing on the top. Standing by it was a man, his face hidden behind a long mop of hair. He was finishing off the decorations, writing down the last few words. 'To a very happy birthday to Sam, love from Mom and Dad.' He turned somewhat towards her, and all the noise cut out._

"_Of course." She responded to an unknown question. She headed off towards the stairs, standing at the base. "Sam! Time to come down, birthday girl." She squealed a bit as she felt the man's hands wrap around her waist, twirling her away before holding her close. She leaned in to part his hair, to kiss him again…_

_A single red eye glared at her, as his speech turned into a shriek…_

* * *

_She was running, running as fast as she could. Fire billowed everywhere as explosions ripped through the city. Machines marched through the streets, barely moving faster than a walk before vanishing. She heard people scream as they were found, tumbling out of windows as they vanished into purple lights and ashes. She nearly shrieked as she stepped in someone, their flesh squishing under her bare foot._

"_Sam!" She yelled loudly, hysterically. "Alex!" She felt herself call out a third name, but everything went silent. "SAM!" She called out again, before she felt a hand cover her mouth. She twisted in its grip, her screams muffled while she tried to fight free, tears running down her cheeks. But the thing pulled her into an alley, only letting her go long enough to stand before her. She gasped as she recognised the familiar cloak, the visor reflecting her face. His stance told her that he was glaring at her._

"_Quiet." He hissed. "Do you __**want**__ the Vex to find us?"_

"_I…I don't… What's happening? What are those things? Why are they doing this?" She babbled, her terror threatening to overwhelm her._

"_We don't have time to play 20 questions. We need to get moving right now. We've got most of our units defending the port now. At least we can get some of the civilians out of here. Now, come on if you want to live." He grabbed her by the arm, but she pulled free._

"_No. I'm not leaving. Not without my family. They're still out there. They're in danger."_

"_Yeah, and so a thousand other families. In case you haven't noticed, we're in deep shit here. It's every man for themselves right now. Besides, they're probably dead by now."_

"_No. No, I don't believe that. I __**refuse**__ to believe that. Help me find them. I've got a little girl out there. She's this high, and has…"_

"_I. Don't. Care." The Hunter responded. "We're leaving. Everyone who can. Orders from Earth. This is a lost cause, and anyone who doesn't leave now is fucking dead. The only reason I'm even out here is because our commanding officers told us to grab as many people as we can __**without**__ risking our lives. Now, are you going to follow my orders; or do I need to crack your skull and carry you?"_

"_You go. Go and save your worthless skin." She hissed at him angrily. "Some hero __**you**__ are. Guess those vids are nothing but propaganda. I'm going back out there right now." The Hunter placed a hand against his helmet, likely listening to something over the comms. She didn't care. Her family was still out there in all the chaos, and she wasn't leaving without them. She moved to walk off, but she felt something hard slam against her skull. And then something even harder slammed into her cheek. It took a few seconds to realise that it was the ground. He had attacked her._

"_Sorry. But Command just ordered a full retreat. As in 'grab anyone with you and run for the hills' retreat. I am __**not**__ getting my ass cooked by them because you're a stubborn bitch." She felt her body get jerked around as he lifted her, carrying her over his shoulder. She wanted to move, to fight, to scream. But her body just wasn't responding. Tears streamed down her face as she saw them moving away from the city. She heard the Hunter curse as he stumbled over something, kicking aside a head with a red glowing eye._

_A red glowing eye surrounded by long black hair._

_There was silence, as she said his name, before the face turned black and became a screaming skull. Then they had gone long past it, her brain finding it hard to tell what was real and wasn't. She saw Sam looking at her from every flame, every broken pane of glass, every screaming skull._

_I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry._

"_Hunter Quark, reporting in Sir." Her Hunter shouted. She was now aware that she was surrounded by noise and panic. People ran everywhere as they rushed into ships heading off world. As she watched, a Titan bowled people over as the ramp of one ship rose up, the people jumping and scrabbling to grab hold. She could now move again, she could feel her body again._

_Sam._

"_Load her up into the last ship." A deeper voice ordered. "We need to leave here now. According to our last reports, the Vex are almost upon us."_

"_Yes sir." Her Hunter responded, marching off and ignoring her whimpering. She tried to shake herself free, but he jolted her and buried his shoulder into her stomach. Things were blurry, and then she felt herself sitting in a seat, looking out a window. The platform was almost empty, the last few people running onboard. The Guardians stood outside, firing at something coming towards them. The machines. The Vex. Whatever they were._

_Wait. Movement, running past them. A Warlock reached out, only to stop. That familiar blond hair. The ponytail she remembered doing. The white shirt she gave as a present just last week._

_Sam._

"_Stop the ship." She heard herself murmur. "Stop the ship." She repeated louder. "My baby's out there. My daughter. Stop this ship now!" She willed her body to move, to try and get out of her seat. "Someone, open the ramp. My child's out!" She looked back out the window, Sam jumping and waving at her. Tears were running down her face. She was so busy trying to get the ship to stop, she didn't hear or see that giant machine teleporting behind her._

_She could only scream as it buried a large spike through Sam's chest, the point poking out the other side and a dark red._

* * *

Bianca woke up with a start, panic bubbling up inside of her and sweat running down her body. She was taking short, shallow breaths, her fingers pulling at a trigger that wasn't there. She could feel adrenaline and endorphins pumping through her body, forcing it into action, waking her up and pulling her free of the nightmares.

"Apologies if that was too much." She heard Tyrion say to her. "But you have been in the grips of a panic attack for nearly ten minutes. I thought it prudent to wake you up as fast as possible."

"No. No, that was fine Tyrion." She replied breathlessly. She… She needed air. She needed space.

_Everything was exploding, people were screaming. There were no Guardians. Where were the Guardians...?_

She got out of bed and almost stormed out of their quarters, Tyrion materialising her armour as she left. She stomped down the halls, ran across the paths, bounded over steps. It didn't matter where she went. All that mattered was getting the adrenaline out of her system. But everywhere she went, just out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a red glowing eye.

"Bianca. There's nothing there. It's all in your head. Just take your time."

"I need a target." She said shakily. "Run the Vex targeting program." Tyrion stared at her before shaking his eye and projecting images on her HUD. Lines of Vex stood on the lawn, a holographic hand cannon in her grip. She unloaded round after round, the bang only audible in her head as they fell. When they were all gone, she had him run it again. And again. Each time trying to improve her score.

For a long time, she barely remembered anything from her old life. From the life she had before becoming a Hunter. She used to believe that it was because the Ghosts simply copied a database of a Guardian, including DNA and memories, when they bonded with someone. She used to hate it, and wonder all the time. Who was she before? Was she a good person, a bad person? Did she have friends, family even? What did she do for a living? Where was she from? Whenever she wasn't on a mission, she used to spend hours just scouring anything for answers. She had only that first memory, a still image from it, to work from. That house on the hill. She searched long and hard for it, thinking it might've been in the ruins of Britain. Then she found out that her dark skin was from Africa originally, and she looked there too. And then she tried the fractured bombed tatters of America. But every time, all she found were more Fallen and Hive forces, scouring the landscape and trying to take everything from them. It was only when they returned to the ruins she was found in, the metal walls hiding her remains for Traveller-knows-how-long, that Tyrion recognised them. They were the wreckage of a colony ship. She hadn't lived on Earth. At least, not recently. Ish.

And it carried the markings of the Ishtar Collective, the labs set up on the colony of Venus.

Now though, now she wished she never found them.

"Having trouble sleeping?" She jerked as she heard Ozpin's voice behind her. Thank the Traveller that she wasn't projecting it with light. That would've been even harder to explain. "Strange though, how you seem to be pretending to be shooting imaginary foes."

"…Headmaster. Have you ever lost someone to the darkness? To the… to the Grimm?" She asked after several seconds of silence.

"I have. Several of my friends died from being overwhelmed by them. Others, were living in towns and villages set outside the walls."

There. That was her opening. "I lived in a small town outside of The City. I had a family, friends, a loving daughter…" Her voice caught in her throat. "They just came out of nowhere. The Guardians protecting us could barely hold them off. Everyone was running to the ships to escape. But I couldn't leave."

"Not without your family." She saw Ozpin watching her with some concern. "I can sympathise with you."

"The Guardian I ran into was ordered to grab as many people as he could and get them back to the ships, whether they wanted to or not. I… I think we ran into my husband on the way. He was… gone. Nothing." She felt tears running down her cheeks. "I can't even remember what he looked like. In a way, it was better that I never really saw his body. That I never saw him die. It made it so much less painful."

"…And your daughter?" Ozpin asked after several seconds of silence.

"…Killed. Right outside the ship. I had a front row seat to seeing her get stabbed from behind." She gave a shaky laugh. "But I got revenge on them. On that… that pack. I hunted them down, after I became a Hunter. I killed them. I killed hundreds of them. I thought that would take the pain away, get rid of the nightmares. But they just won't stop."

"Bianca. I'm afraid those memories will stay with you for the rest of your life. You will remember them forever, those final moments stuck in your head. You won't be able to stop them, but you _can_ take strength from them. Use them to remind you of what you're fighting for. Cherish the good memories you have. And take strength from your friends." He pulled a scroll out of his jacket. "If you'd like, I could reschedule your classes for tomorrow. Give you some time to yourself."

"With all due respect Headmaster, I usually go hunting when the nightmares bother me. Find something to take my mind off them. So if it's all the same, I'd rather do something useful with my time than just sitting around and feeling sorry for myself." She turned and left, trying her best to escape the memories.

Ozpin didn't follow her.

* * *

They were definitely a… unique group of kids. Two teams of four; 6 girls and two boys. Teams RWBY and JNPR. Almost half of them were almost bouncing around with sheer energy, a Miss Valkyrie the most energetic. The other members of JNPR were watching her with an air of indifference, obviously not alarmed by her attitude. Miss Schnee, as expected of some noble family, was as cold as ice, even when her leader pulled her into a hug.

"Cute little bunch, aren't they?" Katie noted as she stood next to her. Ozpin had decided that, for the time being, they would go as a group of two. Just until they see how they handle things in the field. For that, Bianca was grateful. The memories of her daughter, of the days spent with Sam and her mood swings, were still in her head. But she still wasn't fully connected to them. It was like she was watching someone else's life. She didn't really know how to react around kids.

They all stayed far away from The Towers.

"I guess." She admitted. "So what are we waiting for, anyway?"

"Oh, just their teacher. Some guy named Port. I think he's a big jolly guy, or something. Has a bit of an obsession with hunting from what I've heard."

"Tis hardly an 'obsession'." They turned to see a round man with a large grey moustache approaching them. "It is merely an informative interest. After all, my class is meant to teach the students everything we know about the Grimm. I need to learn as much as I can about their behaviours, their capabilities, and even their way of life. For example, by studying their most common sightings, we can accurately hypothesise their migration paths, and make sure people stay away from them at all times."

"Grimm migrate?"

"Possibly. Oh, allow me to introduce myself. I am the esteemed hunter…"

"Professor Port." Katie finished. "We kinda figured that."

"Oh. I mean… Erhem. Yes. I am. And I was very impressed with your fight yesterday in the arena. You certainly know what you're doing out there. But I suppose that's expected from accomplished 'Guardians' such as yourselves. But I digress. We had best be setting off now." He nodded at the students, obviously counting them off. "…6, 7, 8… Wait. We're missing a team. Guardians, have either of you seen team CRDL today?"

"Team CRDL is an all-male team led by Cardin Winchester." Tyrion informed her. Four pictures appeared on her HUD, showing four boys dressed mostly in armour. "I've located their scroll signals as we speak." Her radar lit up with 3 yellow dots, moving fast towards them.

"Haven't seen them yet." She replied. "But they should be here right about…" The front doors of the academy burst open, revealing the four boys rushing towards them. "…Now."

"Team CRDL, this is unacceptable." Port said fiercely. "Now just what caused you to be late to class?"

"Sorry sir." Cardin said, not appearing all that sorry. "Lark made us all wait while he had some extra breakfast." The silver-haired boy tried to shake his head, but Cardin pulled him into a headlock. "But don't worry sir. It won't happen again. Right Lark?"

"Yes, Cardin." Lark whimpered. Cardin gave him a rough noogie before finally releasing him.

"Right then. Well now that everyone's here, it's time to head on outwards and onwards. Next stop: Forever Fall Forest. A place filled with Grimm waiting to pounce on us and eat us raw." And on that note, Port led the charge for the airship. The kids didn't seem all that worried about what he just said; if anything, they seemed even more excited. Katie and Bianca took up the rear, feeling a bit out of place amongst the class.

"Bet this is different from when you went to school, huh Bianca?" Katie said, elbowing her in jest.

"Probably. Don't remember it yet." She replied. "What about you? What exactly counted as school for Exos?"

"Who knows? Probably was that they jacked our heads into computers and downloaded everything. Until we find a proper working Exo factory or lab, we're just grasping at straws and hearsay. I mean, it apparently took them 10 years to figure out how to fix and replace damaged components. Can you imagine that? 10 years just to figure out how to replace a broken arm." Katie's head bobbed down, before looking back up as she nearly skipped along. "But who cares about that? It's old news now. I'm more interested in figuring out how their ships work. They don't _seem_ to have any visible technology similar to the subspace engines from our ships, or anything comparable to the technological level necessary to build them. Could it be some kind of derivative of the dark matter engines used by the Fallen? Possibly. It wouldn't be impossible for two groups, unknown to each other, to invent similar technology for the same purpose." Bianca rolled her eyes at Katie's ramblings and pulled her onto the ship. Before they even found time to take a seat, the ship was already moving away and flying, the four wings now splayed out and moving up and down independently. There was barely a shudder as they went. They found the class inside the observatory deck, spread out in their respective teams. She left Katie standing by the window, looking out at the wings and muttering to herself, while she found herself standing next to Port. She leaned against the wall, her cloak swishing dramatically as she took a relaxed pose.

She noticed that Port was giving her a thorough onceover.

"So why is it called 'Forever Fall' anyway?" She asked him. He seemed almost pleased to engage her in conversation.

"Ah, an interesting place. Its trees are a source of a useful substance known as red sap. The sap is mostly used in healing by helping to close wounds and keeping bacteria out. But in the trees, the sap causes the leaves to turn a vibrant red, resembling how a tree would look during the Fall season. And since it's practically permanent…"

"They're in Fall forever." She nodded, understanding now. "Any big monsters I should know about down there?"

"Nothing too big. I believe the largest specimen encountered was an Ursa Major. They're attracted to the sap's sweetness, you see. But the bigger Grimm, such as Death Stalkers, Nevermores, King Taijitus or Goliaths tend to favour more open spaces. But not to worry. While Ursai are fierce hunters, they're easy prey for skilled warriors like you and me." He placed his hand on her shoulder, shaking her in his excitement. She brushed his hand off and moved away a bit. As she watched the world go by, a sixth sense told her than he was looking at her from behind.

"Eyes on the road, Professor." She said acidly. "I doubt anyone wants to find out that our class was attacked while you were staring at my ass."

"Oh, you misunderstand. I was actually interested in the embroidery on your cloak. Is the wolf meant to represent the skills and strengths of a Hunter?"

"I… I uh… Well, yeah. That's pretty much what it means. And it also represent how a fireteam is like a pack. We all look out for each other, and wear down the enemy through coordinated attacks. We are the weapons of the City, used to protect our people."

"I see… That seems rather…"

"Morbid? Yeah, well better us than others. And the City is our only one for a reason." She looked out the window again, watching the sea of red trees getting closer and closer. "Guardians have saved a lot of our people. But they had to leave even more behind to die to do so."

"I am sorry for your loss. I'll admit that things aren't much better here to us, but I doubt they're close to what your people have been through." Silence. "I don't suppose… you've ever considered moving away from your home. It sounds almost as if you're right in the middle of Grimm territory."

"Some people want to run. To find a home elsewhere away from them all. Let them pick over the remains like some vulture. But that land's been our home since the beginning. We're not picking up and moving for anything."

"We'll kill every last threat until we're the last ones standing."

* * *

All was quiet in the central information hub. A lone bookkeeper was tapping away at the console, humming merrily to herself as she looked up information and filled in spreadsheets. The mug of coffee at her side and the coat thrown over the back of the chair both showed that she was likely to be there for a while, maybe even several hours. Time that few infiltrators would want to waste.

Time Little Light didn't have the patience for.

"It's been an hour, and she's _still_ there." He said quietly through the neural link. Even before Ti'ana said anything, he could practically _feel_ her sighing.

"Well there's gotta be _something_ we can do. I'm getting a cramp waiting here. Maybe you could… I don't know, get me behind her and I knock her out. Or we could make loud noises to draw her away. Or we could get a bed sheet, and…"

"_Please_ don't say 'pretend were ghosts'."

"I don't see _you_ coming up with anything better. And unless you've got a Goblin stashed somewhere, I can't think of anything else."

"I just… This is new to me. Normally we just charge in and kill anything dumb enough to get in our way. We don't normally have to try and infiltrate." Light admitted. His mind was ablur with different ideas, but they all had shortcomings. They all had flaws.

He sighed. This was going to be demeaning. And positively ridiculous.

The woman was tapping merrily away, humming a song to herself as she worked. She was just reaching for her coffee when she thought she heard something. A low whistling sound. She shrugged and went back to work, only to hear it again. And it was getting louder. Frowning slightly, she got up and moved to the nearest shelves, where the sound seemed to be coming from. But as she turned the corner, nothing was there.

Until something caused books to fall to the ground.

She rushed round the other side, ready to grab whoever thought it was funny to play a prank on her. Those books needed to be treated properly, not thrown around. She was just about to scold them when she stopped in shock.

A fading outline, the bookcase visible through it. Rusted chains and tattered robes clinked against the ground. Clawed hands grasped at the air as it hovered before her. The thing turned around to reveal a white veil covering its face. But through it, she could see empty eye sockets. It lifted the veil away, and showed her hundreds of teeth grinning at her. It opened its mouth, and a long tongue reached out towards her.

She used the most basic defensive technique known to man. She screamed loudly to startle it before running away.

"I still can't believe that actually worked." Little Light said as he disabled the projection. "If the others asked, we crept our way through laser hallways and avoided legions of monsters to do this."

"Noted. Now set me down so I can fix up the mess before she gets back." Light projected a cone of light, Ti'ana's body being reconstructed within it. She stretched, glad to be flesh and blood again. "With any luck, everyone will figure that she just imagined things." Light flew over to the computer as Ti'ana cleaned up. It was relatively trivial to hack through their security and into their database. Luckily, last night he and the other Ghosts created a Trojan program that would allow them to access the entire system wirelessly. In fact, compared to the advanced systems they've encountered amongst the forces of The Darkness, this was childishly easy. They might've well just unlocked the whole system for him for all it mattered. Their program installed, he quickly sorted through the files for any possible mention of a crash. No such luck. No, that would've been too easy."

"I think I can hear footsteps." Ti'ana said to him obviously finished at her end. He quickly closed everything he opened, returning the screen to what it had been, before he received the signal signifying Ti'ana's demise. He digitised her body and flew back to the vents, just in time for the hysterical woman to come rushing back in with Miss Glynda.

They were so busy looking for signs of the 'ghost', that they didn't notice Light getting away.

* * *

Bianca rolled aside as the Ursa charged her, before jumping onto its back and stabbing her knife into its head. The monster roared in pain and anger before she drove a second knife into its eye, causing it to stumble and fall over dead. Smoke curdled from its body, and the white plating cracked and crumbled.

These things weren't actually all that difficult. From the way Port spoke it was like they were truly dangerous, but it was actually a lot like fighting Vandals really. She guessed they were more dangerous if you had to worry about dying from them. The closest Guardians came outside of Darkness Zones was failing any bounties requiring one to not die.

She heard a rumbling growl from behind her. She spun round with her hand cannon before her and finger tightening on the trigger, only to see the Grimm burst into flames. It fell apart as ash, Katie standing behind it.

"That was close." Bianca said as she lowered her weapon. "Another second, and I would've put a bullet through your head again."

"Yeah, well I figured you'd be pissed if that thing killed you." Katie replied. "Now, where the hell did the kids run off to? One minute we're walking about; the next, Port says that we've wandered into a Grimm trail."

"My advice? Follow the trail of dead Grimm. Those kids are actually pretty skilled. These guys aren't so tough."

"As fun as it may seem to follow a haphazard trail of dead, I'm detecting their scrolls as we speak." Tyrion said. "Bringing it up on your radar now."

"There. You see? Problem solved." They walked, following the blue arrows pointing upwards. The kids seemed to have made quite a bit of distance from them. Maybe they had run off to find more open spaces. But as they got closer, the arrows started moving again. Left, right, left again. And there was another arrow in the middle of them.

They took off running as the trees shook from the loud roaring.

"Hunters, keep clear of its paws." They heard Port shout. "It seems far stronger than even Ursai Majors." They broke through the bush, coming across the class in a bit of trouble. Even as they skidded to a halt, they pulled their weapons free and started blasting. And as they did so, they took note of what they were attacking.

It was another Ursa, but far bigger than any they had seen so far. Easily three times the size of the other Ursai, there were splits in its skin where muscle and bone showed through. Curved bone jutted from its limbs, and it had three claws shaped like fingers. It stood mostly upright, showing what looked like an exoskeleton rip-cage. And its head was massive for its size, the white mask of the Grimm cracked. Bulges and growths grew from where its eyes would've been.

"Tyrion, give us some data here." She said as she tossed her grenade, the adhesive sticking onto its face. The Ursa barely flinched as Arc coursed through it, swinging its paw uselessly at her. She blinked backwards, avoiding the attack and crouching on a rock. She waved a menu to appear and changed her class, her light and cooldowns resetting. Katie ran around it, fiery wings floating behind her and a purple glow covering her as she spammed grenades and kept hitting with flames. A large yellow health bar appeared on her HUD above the creature, along with the name 'King Ursa'. It seemed that the students managed to shave off some of its health already.

"Ah, Guardian Bianca. I'm glad you managed to join us." Port said next to her. "As you can see, we're in a bit of a situation."

"Yeah, no kidding." Bianca replied, switching her cannon for a sniper rifle. She blasted the beast right in the middle of the face, finally causing it to reel slightly. She looked away from the scope in time to see Ruby Rose charge towards it, her scythe blade impacting against its neck even as her sister punched it from the other direction. It swatted her aside as Ruby vanished in a storm of rose petals, just in time for Nora to land on it hammer first. The beast's head was pushed downwards as she blasted it, launching herself off as it swung at her. It roared loudly at them, the ground shaking from the sheer force, and the growths on its face started glowing.

"Everyone, get behind cover!" Katie shouted as she ran away. Red lasers blasted at them, punching through trees and scorching rocks. The pounding steps caused Bianca to grab Port and run off, just as it smashed the boulder they were hiding behind. As she ran, Port blasted it with his shotgun-axe and Lie Ren jumped onto its back and started blasting away with his machine pistols.

"Tyrion, do we have some kind of 'ace-in-the-hole'?" Bianca asked as she got out her cannon again and started blasting at the growths.

"Actually, we might. We just have to get it into the red." He responded. Bianca turned to see that Team CRDL was taking only slight potshots, preferring instead to just hide behind cover. "And we'll need a distraction too."

"I've got an idea. Katie, keep it busy for a bit longer." She ran across the battleground, ducking as the Ursa lashed out at her. As it did so, Katie jumped and stabbed it with a halberd, the barrel blasting it point blank with the fusion charges. The beast roared in pain as a hole was seared through its arm, blood flying everywhere as Katie hovered away again. Bianca jumped over the rock and landed amongst team CRDL, knocking a couple of heads together as she landed. They looked scared of what was happening, obviously ill-prepared for this kind of thing.

But if they were going to survive this, she couldn't treat them like children. She needed them to be soldiers.

"On your feet, all of you." She said sternly, standing up long enough to take a few pot shots at it. "We need to all hit it at the same time if we want to win. Team RWBY will focus on the right leg; Team JNPR will launch an attack on the damaged arm. And you guys will have to take out its other leg…"

"Fuck that." Cardin replied. "We need to get out of here while we still can. That thing's pretty much unstoppable."

"It's almost dead right, even if you can't tell. One final push, and it's down for good."

"Oh, and I suppose _you_ know everything? Well here's what _I_ think. We are going to die." He moved to stand up. "I'm leaving now. If anyone's interested in…" He barely finished before Bianca punched him in the knee, knocking him back down before putting her cannon to his thigh.

"As a future Hunter, I expect you to man up and do your job. If you even _think_ about running again, I am going to serve _you_ up as the distraction. Is that understood?" Cardin nodded furiously. "Good. You got all that Katie?"

"Pretty much." She said over the comms. "I've just finished telling Ruby and Jaune the plan."

"Good. Let's move out." She jumped over the rock and started shooting again, drawing the beast's ire. It started blasting at her with the laser eyes, forcing her to slide underneath. As she did so, Team RWBY charged in, Ruby and Blake slashing past its leg several times before dodging its attack. Then Weiss created a patch of ice underneath it somehow, right before Yang charged in and punched it in the knee. A loud cracking sound filled the air, and it roared in pain again as it collapsed. Then Team JNPR jumped over them, Ren punching its injured limb hard enough to cause the skin to ripple and split some more. Pyrrha threw her shield, the edge slicing through the weakened flesh to cause the hand to rip off. While that was happening, Team CRDL was taking short swipes at its other leg, tearing flesh away as they did so. It raised its uninjured hand to crush them.

And that was the moment she was waiting for.

Three loud bangs filled the air as flaming bullets sliced through the shoulder, the arm flying away with a trail of blood. As it collapsed from pain and blood loss, she charged straight in guns blazing.

"Hit the button by the trigger and spin your rifle around." Tyrion ordered her. Unsure as to what he was thinking now, she did as he said. The stock folded into a point, a spike growing out of it. She pointed it straight for the creature's throat, before throwing it. Tyrion must've activated something, because the rifle fired a shot and went flying faster than she could've tossed it, the spear now jutting from its face. She jumped up and grabbed the spear, pulling on it until it sliced downwards. The beast toppled over, its health bar fully depleted.

All the same, Bianca and Katie fired a few more rounds into it to make sure.

"Well, that was certainly… invigorating." Port said as he walked over to the remains. "I'll have to note down everything we observed about this new variation. Still, you all showed excellent teamwork and you managed to stay calm in the heat of battle. With a few exceptions. But for now, let's return to the academy. Rest up after that battle. And refine those techniques even more. Mr Arc, you need to keep your feet closer together than you did. One wrong push would've toppled you. And remember, you _can_ use both arms to brace your shield if needed." As he led the class away, Bianca and Katie stayed and looked at the Ursa some more. Now that they weren't busy fighting, it seemed so much more familiar. The few recognisable parts finally clicked.

"Why would an Ursa have Ogre enhancements?" Katie asked.

* * *

"_Guardian? Guardian, wake up." She groaned loudly as she woke up, her head feeling like it was stuffed with cotton. "Guardian, you __**need**__ to wake up."_

_Who was this guy? Did she know him somehow? She tried to remember…_

_Fire in the sky… Buildings shattering… "Sam!"… A loud screeching noise… Pain… Anguish… Sam…_

"_Guardian! Wake up!" A jolt ran through her, her nerves afire and her muscles tensing. She nearly screamed as she woke up, her feet pounding the ground as she ran. Gotta get away. Gotta get away. But from what? And why? Where was she?_

_Sobbing… Bindings holding her to her chair… People whimpering… Shouts… Fire… Pain… Then nothing…_

"_We've __**got**__ to find you a weapon, or else we're both going to end up dead." The voice said. She looked around, but she couldn't see anything. "Head towards that habitat up ahead. The one in the air. I'll mark it on your HUD."_

"_What the hell is a hud?" She heard a feminine voice ask. It took her far longer to realise that it was hers. A floating white diamond appeared in her vision, centred on the building on supports before her._

"_Look, I'll explain everything later. Right now, we need to get you to safety." She was startled by a high-pitched shriek. It seemed to come from everywhere. "Damn. I thought we had more time. Start running. Grab __**anything**__ that looks operational. We've only got a few seconds before they find us."_

"_Before __**who**__ finds us?" She asked the voice even as she started running towards the building. A circle appeared in her vision now, and several red arrows pointed behind her. She ran up one of the supports, stumbling a bit on the metal. Once inside, she found tattered cloths and ragged machinery inside. She almost jumped when a white floating thing appeared before her. It flew around the room, a cone of light coming from it._

"_Nevermind that. Right now, all you need to know is that they hate us, and they __**will**__ kill us if given a chance. And they will if we can't find a single…" The light stopped. "Yes! Found one. Get over and grab it." She moved next to the floating thing and reached down to where it had been pointing. Her hand wrapped around a long tube, and she pulled it up to find herself holding onto… onto…_

_Shooting… Bang, bang, bang… Lightning, fire… Click, click… Find this man a gun…_

"_I know it's not much, but it's all we've got right now. Do you know how to use it?" The voice asked her. She stared at the floating thing, confused._

"_I… I don't… I don't think so." The thing stared at her before dipping slightly._

"_Alright. Not a problem. Ok, maybe a bit of a problem. But I can fix that. Now, hold still." It flew towards her, causing her to flinch. But she didn't feel it impact. When she opened her eyes, it was gone. And her head was… remembering? No, learning. A banging sound behind her caused her to turn on the spot, finger tightening on the trigger. The room was filled with the sound of gunfire as she kept blasting, ripping through the frail white things rushing her. Most of them fell, but one managed to withstand the storm. Her fingers instinctively removed the spent ammo cartridge, even as it jumped at her. She willed herself to swing a fist, hoping to knock it a bit, or just get something in its way. A knife appeared in her hand, and her fingers and wrist shifted until she was driving the point through its skull. It fell apart on top of her, the remains turning into some kind of ash. As the knife vanished, she felt her hand finish reloading the gun. The room was now silent, and empty._

"_Well." The voice said. "As first attempts go, that wasn't too shabby. Of course, you had me to help out. Now, pick yourself up and move away from here. There's a Guardian hunting ground not far from here. With any luck, there's someone here collecting bounties or Public Events." There was another shrieking sound. "Well, it'll be better than staying here." Another diamond appeared before her, pointing towards a trail leading away from her. She ran back to the support she came in on, only to find another group of those things rushing towards her. She fired again, this time in a more controlled manner, all the while backing away from them. But there was something bigger with them. And her bullets weren't doing anything to it. Not according to the red bar above its head at any rate. She stepped back again, almost stumbling as her foot nearly found empty space. She was at a drop, her back (figuratively) against the wall. She could jump, or she could die._

_She screamed as she jumped out._

_She thought she heard her legs crack as she landed, but it was lost to the loud beeping as a red bar appeared at the top of her vision. But even as she stumbled away, the bar grew and turned white. Her legs felt completely fine now. It was as if she didn't break them at all. As she ran though, a blue orb exploded near her. She looked back to see the giant holding onto something, firing another blue orb at her._

"_There! A damaged Pike! Grab it and go!" The voice said. She turned to see some kind of bike near her, the casing cracked and smoke billowing from it. She screamed as an orb hit her, the bar cut in half now. Unwilling to risk dying, she grabbed on and instinctly pulled the handle. The bike jetted forward, flames spewing from the back as she flew over the small bumps. Her foot landed in the pedal, pushing down and keeping her going. Her heart pounding, she kept gunning it to get as far away from those things as possible. "Good. We should be safe for now. Now, it might be a good time to get you up to speed. I'm a Ghost. Actually, right now I'm __**your**__ Ghost. And you are a now a Guardian, chosen to defend Humanity and take back our worlds."_

"_What were those things?" She asked, heart still pounding. They terrified her. There were so many, and they were so tough. And the way they looked… She shuddered._

"_Those were the Hive. A possibly undead race that took over the Moon during the Collapse. If you want to be more specific, those were a score of Thralls and a Knight. They're not normally a danger if you're prepared, but no one's ever really prepared when they first wake up again."_

"_How did I get here?"_

"_I don't know. I just found you here. The only one of us likely to know the truth would be you." They rounded a corner to see a large broken rail high above them. "Ok. Now, there should be someone here who can help us. See if you can spot a blue symbol on your radar. That represent other Guardians…" A blue orb hit the Pike, causing the engine to burst into flames. "Abandon ship!" Ghost yelled, her body already obeying. She skidded along the ground for a bit, before getting knocked back by the Pike exploding. She looked up groggily to see another Knight stomping towards her. Along with more Thralls. How did they get here before her? Could they teleport? Or did they have their own Pikes? She reached for her gun, but her body was moving too slowly. She was going to die._

_And then a grenade landed amongst the Hive, exploding loudly and causing the survivors to stumble around. Someone ran towards them, firing off a rifle at full power before switching to a short tube when they got close. The tube practically exploded with a loud bang, the shot shearing through the Thralls that got in her way. They punched one of the survivors, and it vanished into blue lightning. They placed the gun right against the Knight's face, and blew it clean off. With all of them dead, the stranger finally approached her._

_It was a woman, taller than herself. She was dressed in armour, a T-shape on her visor and a blade of some kind sticking out from behind her left shoulder. She got closer and closer until she was practically on top of her, watching her with her gun in hand._

"_Wow." The woman said. "Didn't think a Ghost would find a new Guardian on the moon. You are one lucky girl right now. But the moon is definitely not a place for a noob." She held out one hand. "Come on. I'll take you to the Tower. They'll start getting you prepared and trained down on Earth. Name's Ti'ana. What's yours?"_

_Anguish… Laughter… A cake with lettering… Sam!... Family… Sam!... Loss… Sam!..._

"_I… I'm Sam." She replied as she let herself get pulled up."_

* * *

"Miss Bianca?" She woke with a start at Port's voice. Memories. _More_ memories. Her rebirth. Why would she remember that? Was it the fact that Hive tech was somehow here? The sense of shock and confusion?

Or was it just that she really wanted Ti'ana here right now to help her make sense of everything again?

"Are you… alright?" He asked her, looking concerned. At least, she _thought_ he did. It was kinda hard to tell behind the eyebrows and the moustache. "You were twitching a bit while standing there."

She shook her head and looked out the window. "Just… tired, is all. I didn't get enough sleep last night."

"Ah." He nodded, somehow understanding. "Remembering bad times against the Grimm?"

"You could say that." He stood next to her, looking out the window too. Vale's walls were large enough to be visible over the forest, an unending monument to protection and survival. And like all monuments, it could fall so easily. She turned away to watch the class. The kids were animated, talking and laughing amongst themselves. Except for CRDL. They were just sulking in the corner. And Cardin was glaring at her. "I guess you don't go through this kind of job without a few nightmares to show for it."

"Indeed. Though I only tell my class of my better exploits, I've run into bad situations too. They stay with you for years, waiting for your weakest moments to strike. Sometimes, I find it almost impossible to go to sleep, what with them all attacking at once." Port took a deep breath. "But I found the cure almost by accident. I just kept doing a good job, killing scores and scores of Grimm until the nightmares stopped. They're not gone for good, but they only strike when you're at your lowest. The sense of power you gain by beating them over and over… It's very empowering."

"Power is empowering?" She chuckled. "Man, you're starting to sound like Rahool. That guy comes up with the stupidest lines. And then Vanguard Cayde decided to mimic him for a joke."

"Is that what Guardians do to keep the nightmares at bay? Joke around and play pranks?"

"Well, yeah. And we're skilled enough to do it on the field too. I remember one time I got into a contest to see who could crash a Sparrow into a… an Ursa the most stylishly. By the time we got to the fifth one, we were chasing after it on foot with a Titan carrying his Sparrow on his back. It was hilarious." Her grin turned into a frown. "It's just that… that Ursa…"

"Yes. It was bigger and more dangerous than others we've ever seen before. And I'm getting a feeling that it wasn't exactly natural, not the way it had been mangled."

"I… I might've seen something similar to it." She said. "I mean, I'm not completely certain, but I ran into a monster that fired plasma from its face."

"And just what do Guardians call that kind of Grimm?"

"We call it an Ogre. And we're pretty sure it's 'something-made'."

* * *

Our story now moves to two hikers trudging through the bush, at the very edge of the Forever Falls Forest. They were loaded with emergency rations, shotguns, rifles, and the dust needed to power them all. And they had made an incredible discovery.

"Dude, check this out." One of them, Viridian Ghost, said in awe as he took in the furrow in the ground. "What the hell do you think caused this?"

"Who cares?" His companion, Sparrow Crimson, replied. His head-wings fluttered in agitation. "As long as it's _very_ dead, I don't care squat about it."

"Ah, you're such a wimp sometimes Sparrow. Just think about what this could mean. It could be a Nevermore crash, in which case there could be some good bones to pick over."

"Bones that'll fall apart before we even get close to Vale." Sparrow argued.

"Fine. Then what if it's a downed ship? And don't try to pretend that it couldn't be. Giant Nevermores attack ships whenever they get too close all the time. There could be injured on board."

Sparrow sighed. "Fine. We'll go and have a look. But if it's _not_ a crashed ship, I'm leaving. This was meant to be a relaxing trip, not a pseudo-hunter adventure." Viridian cheered, rushing ahead like an idiot. Sparrow ran after him, his head-wings almost capable of lifting him off the ground as he ran. He nearly crashed into Viridian as the older boy came to a stop. Grumbling, he was about to tell him off when he stopped in surprise.

"What. The Hell. Is that?" He asked, staring at the crashed ship. It didn't resemble any ship he'd seen before. It was far more angular than Bullheads, but only just bigger than them too. Two large wings stuck out of the back, while a fin pointed upwards from the top. And it was all a bit dented, as expected from a crash.

"Some kind of experimental airship?" Sparrow suggested. "Though I'm not sure how it's meant to stay flying."

"Something must've fallen off maybe. Let's get a closer look. I bet we could find some cool stuff on board." Viridian charged forward.

"What? No. We need to just see if there's a survivor, and then get the hell out of here. I don't like this. There could be something dangerous around."

"Oh come on. The Grimm haven't been seen around her for days. What else could there be to worry about?" As he asked that, his foot slipped and dislodged some rocks. They fell down cracks in the ground, falling down into larger cracks and chasms, falling further and further. After minutes of this, they finally fell into a large, endless cave. The place was silent and dead.

But as the rocks hit something, dead doesn't mean empty.

Three green glowing eyes opened, and the scraping sound of a sword echoed through the air.

* * *

**Finally, we're getting into some action. Yes, the Guardians won't be the only things from Destiny showing up in this story. After all, no one said that the Grimm were the only things the Darkness left behind.**

**Destiny-wise, we all wake up on Earth because in the story we're the only Guardian there. But for my story, I imagined that Ghosts find possible guardians everywhere. In the city, on Earth, on the Moon and Venus, and even possibly on Mars and the Reef. So because of that, I've got room to imagine new adventures for our characters. And so yes, Bianca was originally from Venus, and had a family. For those of you curious, Alex was a scientist investigating the Vex, until they grew tired of playing with us and decided to invade. Hopefully you can figure out how she ended up on the moon after that, but we'll reveal that later on if you can't.**

**Now, for memories. The game doesn't let you know how you know things, or how much you know in the first place. I decided to go with the Ghosts picking up scattered fragments of memories and rebuilding from those, because that's hardly the strangest thing the Traveller could do. And it gives them all a bit of history. Cayde-6 was a hipster. Saladin was a hippy. Ikora was a drop-out. While I doubt any of those are true, they give a bit more depth to our Guardians. And it'd be funny to have them like that too.**

**Oh, and like most memory fragments, Bianca had a few errors in what she remembered. That'll explain inconsistencies, like Alex have a Vex head, or calling herself Sam at first.**

**And finally, I think that Guardians technically have a form of close-range teleportation. Just load themselves into their ghosts, and have them rebuilt elsewhere. That'd be pretty nifty once you get over the killing yourself part.**


	4. Heart Vs Head

**Chapter 4: Heart Vs Head**

Ti'ana cursed as she unscrewed a warped component on her Phaeton, the wrench almost warping under the strain. Finally, she managed to pry it off, handing it over to Light to decompile and reformat into a working part. She was very thankful that that was one of his many functions. She doubted Beacon had parts designed for space-faring crafts, especially ones from another world. While he was doing that, she looked over the rest of the underside, her HUD scanning it for damaged parts. Noticing that a fuel intake line was practically shredded, she closed off that part of the line and ripped it out, oil splattering over her arm. When she got the Phaeton inside the hanger, she thought it would be a good time to give it a look over after their trip through the wormhole. Just in case anything got damaged from their attempt to escape its grasp. A good thing she did, too. According to Light, some of these parts would've caused catastrophic problems if not treated. A nudging against her shoulder told her that Light was done. She swapped the component, some kind of sensor, for the hose, and started screwing it back on. Now that it was repaired, it was so much easier to turn. While she did that, Light recreated the tubing directly back into the system. When they were both done, she closed the hatch and jumped down. And if it weren't for all the people in the hanger, she'd have Light get all the oil and grease off her. As it was, she was just going to have to wait for later.

"Ok. So we're finished with the under-carriage and the engines." She said, her voice only heard in her helmet. "Any other areas needing a check-up, Light?"

"The main cannons are still reading signs of overheating. And the radar dish was hit by debris during the flight."

"Hmm. I think I'll work on the radar dish first. Having weapons won't do us much good if we can't see enemies coming."

"You do that. I'll go down below and see why the weapons aren't working." She placed her hand against the cannons, letting Light flow into the casing, before using a nearby lift to hop on top. She hissed when she saw the dish. Yeah, the caved in side _did_ look pretty bad. She just hoped she could open it up on her own. She started typing away at the pad next to it, they hydraulics hissing and groaning as the lid lifted off. Her HUD highlighted a big red portion right when the dent was, but everything else seemed fine. First thing she had to do was rip the whole thing out so she and Light could start over on that part. Bangs and shrieks filled the air as she pulled things apart, hitting them with her wrench when they refused to yield to sheer brute force. She only stopped when she heard a loud coughing next to her.

"When Holiday said to rip out damaged components, I don't think she meant to _literally_ rip them out with your hands." Light scolded her. "It's far easier to fix parts when they're in better condition instead of mangled and dead."

"Funny. You don't seem to have any trouble fixing _me_ when I'm mangled and dead." She retorted, pulling out the last broken piece. Light scanned all of them, dismantling and reassembling on the go as he did so.

"True. But more often than not you're not torn limb from limb when you die. Then things get a bit harder." She shuddered, remembering the time her armour and shields failed her and the Hive Thralls cracked her helmet open and started chewing on her face. That was _not_ one of her more pleasant deaths. "Well, despite your heavy handedness, most of these parts are still in one piece, aside from the damage already inflicted on them. I'll get to work repairing them."

"So what am I supposed to do now? I can't exactly not do anything. People might find it weird if I'm just lazing about." Light floated towards her and created a mallet, dropping it into her hand.

"See if you can buff out some of the dings in the dish. I'll smooth it over when you're done." Ti'ana shrugged. It was better than nothing. She crouched down next to the lid and gave a few taps in some of the more dented areas. Rips and tears formed in the metal where she struck too hard, but for the most part it was starting to round out again. It was actually kinda relaxing, though if she had to do it alone she'd probably get frustrated with it.

"Miss Aqua!" Ruby Rose's voice sounded. "Miss Aqua, where are you?" She heard a tapping sound from the underside of her ship. "Miss Aqua, you in there?"

"Why would this lady be in my ship?" Ti'ana asked in confusion. Light looked at her for a second before shaking his eye.

"That's _you_, remember. Aqua is the last name you chose for yourself."

"Oh. Right. Sorry." She stood up and walked to the edge of the ship, spying Ruby walking around below. Maybe she was looking for an entrance. "Hey, Ruby. Up here." The girl looked up, obviously surprised to see her there. "Hey. How was your class? I mean, you _were_ part of the class Bianca and Katie were helping. No problems?"

Ruby shrugged. "Not much. We came across this _really_ big Ursa though. We needed to all work together to kill it. But it was so awesome. And Miss Gaea and Steel were so cool, rushing around the battle going 'bang, bang' and 'boom' and 'crackle, crackle. And then, Miss Gaea's pistol glowed like the sun, and she blew its whole arm off with just three strikes. It-It was like a… like a…"

"A dance of war." She said. That was how regular people described seeing a Guardian in battle. Always moving from one target to the next. Two or more was like flowing water.

Ruby nodded, before looking at her quizzically. "So, uh… What are you doing up there anyway?"

"Fixing some damage." She replied, waving vaguely at the parts beside her that Ruby couldn't see. "The Phaeton took a few dings on the way here. There's not much else for me to do, so I thought I should make sure everything's fixed before I need to use it again."

"Ooh. Can I help with anything?"

"Not unless you know how to put a radar dish back together." She crouched down, making it look like she was doing something. Little Light was about to lift another part when a shower of rose petals appeared around them and Ruby was now standing next to her. "Whoa! Hey! Hey, hey, hey. Watch the petals." She started brushing them all away. "You're gonna get them in everything."

"Sorry." Ruby apologised quickly, brushing the roses away hastily. "Sorry. Sorry. I just wanted to see if there was anything I could do up here. Maybe pass you some parts…"

"No." Ti'ana said, wincing as Ruby started. "I mean, no thank you. I get that you want to help, but this is really complicated work."

"But… But I could…" She looked around before picking up a part. "I could pass you stuff. You know, when you need it."

"See if she can pass you an oscillating tri-metric analyser." Light said in her head. Ti'ana sighed before looking at Ruby again.

"…Do you know what an oscillating tri-metric analyser is?"

"Uh… Um… Do you know what it is?"

"…Not a clue. But unlike you…" She reached out and grabbed the red highlighted part her HUD pointed out. "I've got an onboard system to help me out." She plopped it down in its assigned spot, screwing it back in. "Look, I'm honestly grateful for the offer. Really. But is there any particular reason you wanted to see me?"

"Well it's just… It's just…" Ruby started fidgeting, obviously nervous now. Ti'ana guessed that her outburst before affected the kid more than she expected. "…I really want to learn about Guardians. A-About how you guys live. How you fight. You guys were so amazing before. It's like this stuff doesn't faze you. In fact…" She seemed to be plucking up the courage to say something. "I… I want to be a Guardian too."

Ti'ana nearly dropped the part she was lifting she was so surprised. She put it back down and gave Ruby her full attention. The girl started squirming again under her gaze. Having a giant faceless helmet watching you isn't good for your nerves. "You… you guys have really cool abilities. And the way you talked before, about how Titans and Hunters and Warlocks only have two classes… I know that you said that they're born with it, but to me it sounds like you _earn_ your Semblances."

"Ruby…It's… It's not that simple. Guardians need to go through… a _lot_ of training before they're sent out. They have to be… well, we call it reforging. It's a difficult process, and not everyone can become a Guardian. I mean, do you really think we'd have just _one_ city if we could make more people into Guardians? Anyway, I thought you wanted to become a Huntress."

"I did. I mean, I _do_. But… But I figured that I could learn the same sort of things as a Guardian." She seemed to steel herself. "Miss Aqua, I _know_ I can handle whatever training I need to go through. Just give me a chance. Please."

Ti'ana sighed. "It's not up to me. It's up to the Traveller. And he… He doesn't talk much these days." She got back to her work, eager to avoid this touchy subject. What Ruby was asking for was impossible. Especially now. She pointed at a part her HUD highlighted. "Hand me that piece there."

"Who's the Traveller?" Ruby asked as she handed the right piece over. "Is he someone special? Like a leader?"

"The Traveller _was_ special. He just showed up in our lands ages ago. Came along with impossible ideas and amazing abilities. With his help, we managed to practically dominate our lands. We pushed the Grim as far out as we could, built amazing works of art, and even pushed technology to the brink of what it's truly capable of. Our scientists then theorised that if we kept going, we could break or even change the laws of physics with our tech."

"He sounds amazing. But… If he helped you guys with so much, how come you've only got one city?"

"Well, it turned out that he had an enemy. We called it the Darkness. We're not actually sure what it was. And no one's really around to tell us. All we know is that it just showed up, and nearly destroyed us. The Traveller practically gave his life to stop The Darkness and the Grim. But the damage had already been done. We took whatever resource we could scrounge up and built The City. Many died before we got the walls put up. Plenty of Guardians too. As the saying goes, 'We spent years building the City. Now we're counting down the hours until it falls.'" With the last component installed, she ran her hand along the dented curve of the lid. Little Light created a thin layer on her hand that smoothed out the curve until it was like new. When she closed it, the whole thing was snug again. "Every Guardian lost is a heavy blow to the City. That's why they choose us carefully."

"…I…I'm sorry." Ruby practically whispered. She looked so forlorn. "I didn't mean to… to…"

"I know you meant well Ruby. But when you become a Guardian, you have the whole City's expectations pressing down on you. Everyone expects you to fix their problems." She cursed to herself as she watched the sad teen. Dammit, this was getting too heavy. "I _can_ answer some questions for you. If you want."

"…No, it's fine. Really. Sorry for troubling you and all." Ruby smiled pleasantly at her, but there was a touch of sadness to it. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with being a Huntress and all. It's still cool." There was an awkward pause. "So… I'll leave you to your work then." She jumped off the top of the ship, leaving Ti'ana feeling like an ass for crushing her new dream.

"Smooth." Advice drawled sarcastically.

"Oh shut up."

* * *

Ruby sighed as she flopped down on Weiss's bed, crestfallen by the rejection. She knew that Miss Aqua _meant_ well, but it still hurt for her to refuse to talk to this 'Traveller' about it.

"Wow. That bad, huh?" Yang asked in pity, looking up from the magazine she was reading. "What, did she trample on your dreams while she was at it?"

"She didn't mean to…" Ruby defended her. "But yeah. She said that Guardians had to go through rigorous training to get where they are. _And_ they are only chosen by some guy on life support."

"Sounds fishy to me." Blake said suspiciously. "How much harder could being a Guardian be than being a Hunter? I think she was lying to you, Ruby."

"And why would she do that? We don't know anything about Guardians, or wherever they came from. For all we know, they could have skills they just haven't shown yet." Weiss was saying. "And even _if_ it's like what we're going through as Huntresses, that doesn't change the fact that we're just schoolkids and Guardians look like they might all be adults. Besides, aren't we all a bit busy dealing with the White Fang right now? We can't exactly put it aside to investigate some people who are trying to help us."

"Yeah, but something still feels unusual about them. It's like they're hiding something."

"It could just be because they've been isolated all this time. It sounds a little as though they've never encountered the kingdoms before." Ruby and Yang tuned out their arguing, Yang sidling up to her sister.

"It's ok Ruby." Yang said to her. "So you're not going to become a Guardian. You're still an awesome Huntress."

"I know. But they seem so much more badass. Like in the fight with the Ursa. They didn't even start panicking. They just took one look and went in guns blazing, organising us to work together before blowing it apart. It was so cool."

Yang thought things over. "Well, what if we do something to impress her? Maybe once she sees how tough you are, she'll call this Traveller and get him to make you a Guardian."

"But how? Miss Aqua already praised me on my fight with Torchwick's goons. What else can I do to impress her?"

"Oh. Uh…" She snapped her fingers. "What if we managed to capture a whole big group of White Fang members? That would be impressive enough."

"I'm sorry, what are you two talking about?" Weiss asked, evidently having heard that last part.

"We capture a White Fang base, or group or something, and then the Guardians will _have_ to make Ruby one of them."

"That's insane." Blake shot down the idea. "Even _if_ we found the White Fang base in the Vale, there'd be too many members for us to take it out by ourselves."

"Hey, we're badasses. We could totally kick their asses. Those mooks never caused problems for us before."

"It's not just the rank and file we'll be fighting. There will be others, stronger and tougher. Plenty of them are likely to Hunter material too. They'll be way out of our league."

"I agree with her. God knows how many bounty hunters my father's hired to take out bases like that, and who kept failing." Weiss added.

"But I just _know_…" Yang started saying, until Ruby placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Yang. It's alright. I'm fine. We don't need to fight something way too tough for us just for me. If we _do_ find that base, we let Headmaster Ozpin know about it straight away. Then he could get the Vale army to rush in or something."

"I'll just… find some other way to try and impress her."

* * *

"She wants to be _what_?" Bianca asked in shock when Ti'ana returned to her room. She had just finished telling them about her conversation with Ruby. "Holy crap, I was _not_ expecting anything like _that_. _Please_ tell me you said no."

"She did. Harshly." Little Light replied. She glared at him before sighing.

"It wasn't _that_ harsh." She said. "I just… implied that Guardians have to go through a dangerous rite to be chosen, that's all."

"Well technically, you're right. Most Guardians _were_ deceased when they were found by their Ghosts." Katie replied. "So how did she take it?"

"…I think I crushed her."

"Ouch."

"There's nothing else you could've done, Ti'ana." Bianca consoled her. "There's no way for you to have made her into a Guardian. And she's too young even if we could. As painful as it is, you were right to shut her dream down before she got herself killed. Now, we need to talk about what happened today."

"You mean with that Super Ursa Ruby mentioned." Bianca nodded and had Tyrion bring up an image of it. There was no doubt now. It was clearly fused with Ogre parts. "How is that possible? Do you think there's Hive on Remnant?"

"Maybe. But I kinda doubt it. As far as their records show, the Grim are the only outside threats they've had to deal with. If the Hive really _were_ here, then they would've shown themselves by now. After all, they were certainly happy enough to take the Moon when they arrived back home."

"Well then what's your explanation?" Katie asked.

"…We know that the Hive have worked for The Darkness for eons, thanks to finding the World's Grave. What if he borrowed some enhancements from them and seeded them into the Grim?" They all mused it over, pondering the possibility.

"It's… It _could_ happen." Katie admitted. "While we haven't seen the Forces of Darkness combining their tech before, it could just be because they're all at war with each other now. Out here on Remnant, where the Grim are the only Forces around, it could be possible."

"Right then. Ti'ana, make sure that you keep an eye out for any other signs of Hive tech. Once we have a general idea of what's being used, we can make plans to counter it." Ti'ana was silent, staring at her boots. "Ti'ana. Ti'ana."

"Huh? Oh, right. Yeah, I'll keep an eye out." But she still seemed distracted.

"Look, stop worrying about Ruby Rose. You did what you had to. There was no other way around it. Besides, we're only here long enough to find our ships and a way back home." She and Katie started talking again, their Ghosts creating maps of the area, but Ti'ana stopped listening.

All she could think about was the crushed expression on Ruby's face.

* * *

Ruby groaned as she rested her head on the library table. She had only paid attention to half of what Professor Oobleck had said, and now she was paying the price. Reading up on everything she missed _on top_ of doing the homework. At least that was the last class for today. She had the whole afternoon to herself. And to her homework.

_She was with the Guardians, tearing through an army of Grim like they were nothing but paper… They moved like water, flowing into each other's moves until they were a never ending storm of death…_

She shook the thought from her head. _Forget it, Ruby._ _It wasn't happening. Miss Aqua made that clear._ Still, she couldn't forget the strength they wielded, how easily they killed that Ursa. She could honestly see them living in the wild; killing anything that got close and surviving off the land; leaving paths of dead behind them. Only returning to civilisation to bring in signs of their work and find more targets to slaughter… She closed her book with a loud thump. It was pretty clear that she wasn't going to get any work done today. Not while her head was filled with ideas of Guardians. She stormed out of the library, not thinking of where she was going. Just one chance. Just one chance to prove herself. She could be a Guardian…

"Ow." She yelped as she ran headlong into something sturdy, bouncing off while her head rang. A grunt told her that whatever she had hit was alive. Rubbing her sore head, she looked up to see Miss Aqua stumbling away, something in her hands. "Oh, Miss Aqua. Sorry about that. I totally should've watched where I was going. You're not hurt, are you?"

"Forget about me. What about you? That was a pretty loud ring you made with your head." She holstered her item behind her, her hands free to check Ruby's head. She sighed in relief. "Looks like that Aura of yours saved your skull. Thank the Traveller for that." There was an awkward silence between them now.

"Well… I… I guess I should be going." Ruby said. "I've got a lot of studying to do for class and stuff." She walked away, but stopped when Miss Aqua called her name. She turned back to see her fidgeting, obviously nervous.

"…Here." Miss Aqua said, pulling the box from behind her back again. "I got you something." Ruby walked back and grabbed the box, which was badly wrapped up. She pulled the wrapping paper free to find that it was… a box of chocolates. "I… wasn't sure what girls your age like, so I thought I'd play it safe with some chocolates. Everyone likes chocolates, right?"

"Thanks. But… why?"

"…It's an apology. For yesterday. I could tell that you had your heart set on becoming one of us. I… I probably should've let you down more easily." She slapped her helmet, aware that she probably said the wrong thing.

"So, it's really _is_ up to the Traveller then." Ruby mumbled more to herself. "Can't you give him a call and ask politely?"

"I'm afraid not. We're not actually connected to the rest of the world. And… Well, it's actually agents of his called Ghosts who choose Guardians."

"And there's never been times where someone became a Guardian without their approval."

"A few." Miss Aqua admitted. "But they're considered foolhardy and crazy. They have to take more risks and do more work just to get the same result. I've only heard of two people like that, and have only met one. As _she_ had some advanced tech of her own to help her." She looked away, as though pondering something. "Look. I can't exactly change anything. But… if… _if_ I see a Ghost… I'll give them a recommendation. And right now, if you want something I'll try my best to get it for you."

"…Then… Can I see you in action? And have a look at your weapons?"

Miss Aqua watched her for several seconds, before nodding. "Sure. I did promise after all." Ruby nearly squealed in delight as they headed back to the training hall. Ruby tapped away at the control panel, selecting many options for the no doubt epic fight. The back gates were opened, squads of robots marching through and taking up position. Miss Aqua stood in the middle, rolling her shoulders as she prepared for this.

One beep… Two beeps… Three beeps…

A horn sounded, the robots opened fire.

Miss Aqua dodged to the right, rolling behind some cover that had sprung out of the ground. As the robots blasted the side she rolled behind, she looked past the other end and started blasting heads off. The headless machines fell, their processors destroyed. But even as they fell, the others turned their sights on her again. She ducked behind cover, a grenade flying overhead to land between them. When it exploded, Ruby had to blink some spots from her eyes as her hearing whined a bit. When she could see properly again, Miss Aqua was already in the open again, a red shotgun in her hands. She shoulder charged a robot hard enough to crumple it, before punching another and causing it to disintegrate. Then she started blasting with her shotgun, tearing through several before reloading. By then, the effects of the grenade had worn off, and the robots started attacking her again. Ruby looked up at the board keeping track of her Aura in worry, watching as it crept to the red rapidly. She looked down again to see her disintegrating another droid with her punch, before sliding under their fire. She looked back at the board again to see that her Aura was back in the green. She looked down to see Miss Aqua turning her shotgun into a shield, prongs folding out of the sides to project the barrier as a metal base appeared out of thin air. As she slammed a robot aside with her shield, she grabbed her rifle from her back and unfolded it, turning it into an axe. With her two weapons in hand, she started charging through the robots and cleaving them in two. But then for some reason, once they started bunching up she holstered them both. What is she planning? Her fists sparked with electricity as she charged for them, before jumping into the air and slamming her fists into the ground. A wave of energy erupted from around her, destroying all the droids within range with ease. A line exploded from before her, sending the remaining flying as they were disintegrated as well. Another horn sounded, marking the end of the fight.

"Ohhh… That was so cool!" Ruby squealed. Miss Aqua rubbed the back of her helmet bashfully, as though she was embarrassed. Or maybe she was worried that this would make Ruby become more determined to become a Guardian. "It was amazing! Especially when you used both your weapons together. It was like watching a knight in shining armour."

"And me without a damsel." She replied. "Alright, that's part one of my promise." She held out her rifle. "Here you go. Have a look. It's unloaded now, since I used up all the rounds in the battle."

"Thanks." Ruby said grabbing the gun. It was bigger than most rifles, and a bit heavier than she was expecting. She held the stock against her chest, looking down the sights. "So, what kind of calibre rounds does it use?"

"Don't know. We made most of our rounds into classes. Scout rifles, like the one you've got in your hands, can only use Scout rounds. Auto rifles use a different type."

"Uh, scout rifle? Auto? Is that how you classify weapons?"

"Pretty much. I guess you want to know more?"

"Please."

"Alright. Our weapons are classified into three groups to begin with. Primary, Special, and Heavy. Primary is pretty much what it says; the guns we use the most. An auto rifle is all about quantity over quality, spraying loads of bullets and overwhelming the enemy defences through sheer firepower. It's mostly preferred by those who fight up close or in the Crucible, since you can just unload without aiming." She raised a hand to stop Ruby's question. "The Crucible is an arena between Guardians to see who is most skilled. After the auto rifle is the pulse rifle. They fire in three-burst shots, and are mostly used at mid-range. Because the recoil of the gun pushes it upwards, Guardians favour shooting the chest area and letting the rounds push to the head. Then we get into weapons that are all about the quality of the shots." She grabbed the scout rifle off of Ruby, and pushed a button behind the trigger. A curved area, right by the stock dropped into her hand, and she reached behind her and pulled out another one. She expertly slotted it into place, before pulling on a deadbolt along the side. "They're not the fastest weapons out there, but with a good sight you can get headshots easier than other weapons. And it's got enough ammo per mag to give you some leeway if you miss. Finally, at the other end of the scale is the hand cannon."

"That's what Miss Gaea uses, right?"

"Yeah. Those are _all_ about quality. They don't have that many rounds, and they're not as good over long distances, but trust me when I say that you _will_ feel it when it hits you."

"Ok." She nodded. "So that's the primary weapons. What are special weapons?"

"They're specialised guns, meant for certain roles. We put sniper rifles and shotguns into that class." She now handed over her own shotgun, letting Ruby marvel at it for a bit before speaking again. "Ammo's a bit harder to come by for those, but they're incredibly powerful in the right situations."

Ruby nodded again. "Sniper rifles for range, and shotguns for up close." She paused. "Yesterday, I saw Miss Steel using this weird gun. It had to spend time charging, but it fired out, like, a dozen little energy things. What's that?"

"Ah. That's… a bit of experimental weaponry we call a fusion rifle. It uh, I think it uses dust or something for elemental effects. It fills a more general role for a Guardian. Or so Katie tells me."

"Oh, ok." She was hiding something, that much was clear. But maybe she was just worried people might want to take it. She'd lie about something if she thought her team might come under threat because of it. She decided to steer away for now, see what else Miss Aqua would tell her. "So, heavy I'm guessing is powerful."

"Right. We only really carry it when we believe that we're fighting something tough." Miss Aqua seemed relieved to be talking about something else. "There are only two kinds really. Machine guns, and rocket launchers. There are different versions of each, but they work pretty much the same way."

"'Dakka, dakka, dakka'; and 'kaboom'." Ruby guessed, waving her hands around to simulated explosions. Miss Aqua started chuckling.

"I wouldn't exactly word it like that. But yeah. I always prefer machine guns. You don't suffer as much if you end up missing your shot."

"So, all your ammo fits into those different weapon classes. And you can't use ammo for a scout rifle in a sniper rifle, or pulse ammo for an auto rifle."

"Pretty much." She paused, before shaking her head. "Actually, it's not as bad as you think."

"Why not? What if you pack for a sniper rifle and you find yourself needing a shotgun?"

"We can… We have a device onboard our ships that can alter the ammo from one form to another. And we try to make sure that we have at least one of each type to compensate for each other's shortcomings." She grabbed the shotgun back and holstered it, standing up and stretching. "Ok then. So, feel better?"

"Yeah."

"Great. Just… Focus on being a Huntress, ok? There's no shame in that." And with that, Miss Aqua headed off, probably to do cool things.

_Sure, there's nothing wrong with being just a Huntress. But being a Guardian is still cooler._

* * *

_That did __**not**__ go the way I wanted it to._ Ti'ana thought ruefully as she walked away from the training arena. All she had really planned on doing was apologise to Ruby and hand over the chocolates. She hadn't planned on showing Ruby her moves (not that she was complaining) and she definitely didn't plan on answering questions. Still, she felt that it all came off better in the end.

Sadly, she seemed to be the only one.

"Unbelievable." She nearly jumped as she heard Bianca's voice. She turned slightly to see her walking alongside her. Damn Hunter, sneaking up on her like that. "Un. Be. Lievable. What the hell was that?"

"What? So I showed her some moves. It's not the end of the world. Hell, we've got enough Glimmer to synthesise some more ammo."

"It's not the training I'm complaining about. It's the questions you answered. What the hell made you decide to tell her stuff like that?"

"You… You were spying on us?" She probably had Tyrion relay everything to her. That was… creepy. And it hurt that she obviously didn't trust her alone. She waved a hand before her helmet. "Whatever. I figured that if I told her some stuff, she'd stop being so curious about us."

"You figured that an impressionable little girl like her would be ok being a Huntress after seeing the moves you pulled? Yeah, great plan Ti'ana. That'll work like a charm. She's probably ditching her 'I want to be a Guardian diary' right now."

"Oh get off my case, Bianca." She snapped back. "I was trying to make her feel better. I didn't make her any promises."

"Oh, but you did." They stopped walking now, glaring at each other behind metal and plastic. "After all, didn't you 'promise' her that you'd recommend her to the first Ghost you find?"

"I said _if_ I saw a Ghost. There's a difference."

"Not to her. You practically _guaranteed_ that she'd become a Guardian. This is why you need to _think_ before you act. She's probably going to search everywhere for our 'home' and try and get her hands on a Ghost. All because of you."

"What the hell is your problem? I was just trying to cheer her up. She's our responsibility, remember?"

"My problem? My problem is that you…" She stopped, looking around at the crowd gathering in the halls. "My problem is that you seem to forgotten that we aren't supposed to be here. My problem is that you are going to blow our cover. My problem is that you seem to have forgotten that Earth _needs_ us back." She hissed, having switched over to internal comms.

"What cover?" Ti'ana replied, also having switched to comms. "Our story is pathetic. A highly advanced city that's been cut off from everyone else? We're barely scraping by on that front. And it's going to get worse the longer we stay here for. I wouldn't be surprised if Ozpin only hired us to keep an eye on us."

"Well I didn't see you complaining when we first made it all up." She looked away, probably glancing at the clock in her HUD. "I've got a class to help out soon. But when I get, we are going to have a serious talk. Until then, keep away from Ruby Rose. You're just going to hurt her by keeping her hopes up." She turned and walked away, leaving Ti'ana clenching her fists. She turned and yelled, punching the wall beside her. The hydraulics in her gauntlets and the Light in her veins allowed her to create a sizable crater in it, cracks spreading everywhere. She then stomped off, hands itching to grab her rifle and shoot Bianca in the back.

But she couldn't. Because right now, for all intents and purposes she could only ever do it _once_.

* * *

"Slowly. Gently." Katie was whispering, watching as Dinklebot zapped away at a glowing red crystal. He was currently attempting to scan it, seeing if it could be converted into a useable form for them. "That's it. Just a little bit more…"

At which point, as is custom for Murphy's Law, Ti'ana barged in loudly, banging the door against the wall and startling Katie and Dinklebot. The dust crystal exploded, giving them both similar soot-stained expressions of surprise.

"Argh!" Ti'ana growled, waving her hands dramatically. "That stupid, stuck-up cow! Where the hell does she get off on lecturing me about trying to make the kid happy? What kind of mother was _she_ back when she was alive? She doesn't know anything." She slammed the door shut again, hard enough to wrench the hinges, before flopping onto her bed in a huff. She grabbed her helmet and tossed it at the wall, before sulking again.

"Well… It sounds like Bianca's attempt to keep an eye on you didn't go down too well." Katie snarked, standing still as Dinklebot removed the soot from her face.

"You _knew_ about that? And you didn't…" She stopped, looking at Katie in confusion. "…What the hell happened to you?"

"Me? Oh, nothing much. Dinklebot and I were simply studying one of these dust crystals in hopes of finding a use for it with our pre-existing powers, until _someone_ came in here all in a strop and startled us, causing us to drop the crystal and have it explode in our faces. Nothing to worry about, really."

"Sorry." Ti'ana apologised, her cheeks turning purple as she blushed in embarrassment. "But I still stand by what I said about Bianca."

"So seriously, spill. What the hell happened to get you two in a fight? If I remember correctly, she used to idolise you after you saved her ass from the Hive. Did she object to you giving Ruby those chocolates?" Katie asked as she pulled another crystal from a sack by her feet. Dinklebot started scanning it again.

"No. She just scolded me because I showed Ruby my moves and answered some questions for her, which apparently are a threat to the mission."

Katie sighed. "I thought you said you were going to make her _less_ interested in becoming a Guardian. Not _more_."

"What is that supposed to mean? I answered some of her questions. She's less likely to start digging now that her curiosity's been sated, or whatever you call it."

"No, it hasn't. One of the first things you learn as a Warlock is that there are _always_ questions. Any answers you find are just going to make more questions. Why did the Traveller turn Mercury into a garden world? Why did the Vex turn it into a machine? What were they looking for on Venus? She's going to want answers, and she could very well end up jeopardising our mission in the process."

"What is _with_ you guys and the damn mission?! We've got a teen girl who's had her dreams crushed by me. Am I the only one who considers her feelings first?"

They sat there, glaring at each other for a while. "…What's going on with you, Ti'ana? You're never this laissez faire about the mission. Hell, even when Bianca wanted to put aside the mission for her one woman Vex crusade, _you_ found a way to get her to complete both. But you've never put one person over the mission completely."

"…I… It's just…"

"Oh no you don't. You don't get to try and brush this off. What is going on?"

"…She… She reminds me of… me. When I was younger." Katie raised her eyebrow filaments in surprise.

"I thought you said you couldn't remember, and that you didn't even care."

"I couldn't. And I didn't. But…" Ti'ana sighed. "Look. When I was about her age, I was _obsessed_ with Guardians. I'd get my hands on any contraband related to them, tune my radio to City broadcasts, I even looked up everything the Reef had on Guardians. Which, as you can imagine, wasn't a lot. People thought I was weird."

"What? They really thought you were weird because you were interested in the City instead of the Reef?"

"Look, the Reef expects all Awoken to be loyal to the Reef and the Reef alone. You should've heard the sort of things they called the Earthborn. And they had even worse things to say about Zavala. We weren't meant to even talk about them anymore. So yeah, I was seen as a weirdo."

"Little Light found you in France, right? So that meant that _you_ had to have been banished at some point."

"I think so. I've always had trouble remembering that. I _think_ I said that I was done with a species who would rather cower in holes and let their fellow Humans die out than help them."

"Really? I'm impressed."

"Yeah. Except I'm pretty sure I didn't say it so eloquently. Or as politely, since I remember chains being involved. And I think I burst into the Queen's quarters to shout it at her."

Katie started laughing. "Oh Traveller. I'm amazed you even were allowed to leave with your head after that."

"Me too. Mind you, I didn't care that they'd rather kick me out rather than listen to me. I headed to the City and started doing more research. And I trained too. Being a Guardian was my life's goal. I'd do anything to become one. Hell, I'd even go without a Ghost if I had to."

"Pretty impressive. Though I'm still intrigued by how you learnt all this in the first place. You said that your memory was shot."

"It… was." Katie looked at her carefully, before finally understanding. She gasped.

"Ti'ana. You didn't go to the Thanatonauts, did you?"

"No." She sounded shocked that Katie would even ask. "Traveller no. I just… I think I died one too many times out on the field." Katie sighed in relief. Even amongst Warlocks, the Thanatonauts were considered creepy and crazy. "Look. All I'm trying to say is that I know _exactly_ how Ruby feels. We're both of the same minds."

"Then you'd realise that a few questions being answered isn't going to be enough. She's determined to become a Guardian, and as far as we know that's impossible here."

Ti'ana groaned and covered her face with her hands. "I know. I know. I should've said something else. But… Katie, could you honestly look at her and _not_ answer her questions?"

"I think it's a moot point anyway. If she really is like you were, then she was probably determined to become a Guardian the moment she saw us fight. We'll just have to try and do damage control."

Ti'ana peeked past her fingers, a smile on her face. "Katie-8. Are you playing the middle lady for us?"

"Both of you have good points. Bianca's right about you propping Ruby up for nothing and jeopardising our mission. _You_ are right that we can't just break a girl's heart and dreams for the mission. All _I'm_ saying is that this might be one of those times where there is no right answer."

"Well, hopefully she's not planning on doing anything stupid."

* * *

That night, few people were aware of a secret meeting happening in Ozpin's office inside the clock tower. Ozpin himself was sitting at his desk, reviewing files showing alien scripts and mangled tool. Glynda was standing next to him, viewing them with interest.

And then there was their mystery guest. Headmaster Ironwood, here with his students from Atlas. He was a military man first, and right now he was agitated.

"So, let me make sure I'm getting this all right." He said, pacing the room in frustration. "We find tablets referring to the dangers of a group known as 'Guardians', who seemingly are agents or assassins of a leader known as 'The Traveller'. Then, after almost 15 years, _three_ of them arrive in Vale, and promptly assault the CCT, likely to access vital information. _Then_ they arrive at your academy – a place where the future generation of Hunters reside – and play themselves off as a long lost city in the middle of nowhere." At this, he turned to face Ozpin. "And you just let them in, just like that?"

There was silence in the room, now that his outburst had ended. Glynda leaned in to look at a blurry picture of a man.

"Funny. I didn't think you were in any position to complain, James. Not since you both have apparently been keeping the existence of aliens from the rest of us." She said sharply, giving them both a glare.

"That is completely different, Glynda. We kept that secret because they made it _very_ clear that they were hostile. If people learnt about these things, there would've been panic in the streets. And you know as well as we do that Grim are drawn to panic and fear."

"What's done is done." Ozpin interrupted. "As for my choices, all we have on their potential threat is the word of, as you called them, 'hostile aliens'. While I want to protect Remnant from invaders, I am not going to alienate any possible allies because I shoot first and ask questions later."

"If I appear to be too quick to attack, it's because I refuse to sacrifice civilians in an attempt to obtain meagre information. If we could capture them and interrogate them, we could learn more than we might just 'observing' them."

"_Or_ we could force them to be aggressive. So far, they have done nothing untoward to our charges. In fact, recently two of their number helped protect a class of ours from a highly dangerous and _heavily _modifiedUrsa." He brought up another screen, showing Professor Port's sketch of the beast. "Perhaps it might calm your mind if we inform you of everything we've observed about them."

"Perhaps. But please, proceed."

"Thank you." He brought up a bigger screen, split it into three, and had each showing one of the Guardians. "We can at least ascertain that Miss Gaea is actually a human, based on her lack of worry in showing her face to us. These markings might be in reference to some custom from their world, perhaps."

"But you still haven't determined what manner of being the others are yet." Ironwood noted. "I can think of a way."

"We are not putting cameras into their quarters." Glynda said firmly. "_Or_ the showers. We can certainly at least give them some privacy."

"I agree. But at least we can determine that they're humanoid in shape. That's a start."

"Anything else?"

"We had a technician covertly study their ship, and watch Miss Aqua fixing it." Glynda said. Another screen, this one showing the ship they had in the hanger. "He couldn't get too much or access the interior, but from what he discovered this vessel is capable of interplanetary travel. He believes that it could cross the solar system within an hour, maybe even less."

"But no further? That means that there _has_ to be a mothership out there, watching us."

"Obviously if there _is_ a mothership, it is beyond the range of our telescopes. We'll focus on the here and now, for now." Ozpin said. "Miss Glynda, what else did our man observe?"

"The ship suffered some damage, most likely from some form of impact. But he had a look after Miss Aqua was done repairing it, and it was in perfect condition again. I would just like to point out that this was _after_ she literally ripped everything out. In addition, during the work he observed her handing the parts to something. He wasn't able to get a look at it without blowing his cover, but whatever it was was able to take the damaged part and rebuild good as new."

"Some kind of repair system, perhaps?" Ironwood mused.

"Then why wasn't it automatically activated?" Glynda asked him in return.

"Maybe it's a personal unit, meant more for repairing small items instead of bigger things. See if it's possible for someone to get their hands on it. Now, about the weapons."

"We haven't been able to get our hands on them yet. The Guardians take them everywhere, and they seem to vanish at other times. All we have to work with is the scans from the training arena." The screen with the ship vanished, replaced by another screen showing different scenes. The largest one was of the three of them fighting a horde of Grim, from the first day they arrived. Ironwood walked closer to take a better look at them.

"They're rather… large for personal weapons, aren't they?" He noted.

"Perhaps they require the extra stopping power. At the very least, they're strong enough to put down a Grim from a reasonable pace." Ozpin theorised. The video started playing, showing the three of them in action. Grim started falling like flies, parts missing from their heads. They watched them in action until the last Grim was dead, and then brought the video back to the beginning.

"Anyone notice anything odd with their fight?" Ozpin asked.

"The third Guardian. Miss Steel." Ironwood said immediately. "She never actually reloaded. Her companions, they reloaded during the fight. Miss Gaea more often than Miss Aqua. But Steel never reloaded once. And what was with that smoke her gun was giving off? Why did she decorate it with bones?"

"We're not too sure. Without actually holding the weapon, anything we have is pure speculation."

"_I_ noticed how they seemed to pull their ammo out of nowhere." Glynda remarked. "One moment they're reaching down to their belts; the next, their hands are holding onto a magazine."

"It could be another function of that repair unit of theirs. Only instead of fixing damaged parts, it's replacing empty mags." Ironwood guessed. They moved the video forward, until they found the part where the Grim moved into melee range. It stopped when Miss Aqua punched a Beowolf, turning it into lightning. "Now _this_ is interesting. I only ever heard of a few people having the strength to punch a Beowolf out like that. And they usually had a gauntlet weapon to aid their punch. Yet she killed it with that punch alone."

"I'd imagine that her amour helped her. Perhaps a stored charge or something similar." Ozpin replied. "But I find the next part more interesting." The video played again, showing her flipping her gun over and turning it into an axe." Let's watch that again. But slower." It rewound, before playing at a quarter of the speed. It showed her flipping it over to grab the handle, the outer plating sliding down to give it more length. What was _really_ interesting though, was how the blade itself just appeared in a lattice of light. Like a hologram. Yet it was clearly real, given the damage she caused with it. It fast-forwarded until it showed Gaea, pulling a knife from her belt. Her pistol's handle vanished into another hologram frame, yet she still held onto it somehow. As a new, straighter handle appeared, a frame formed around the barrel to create a blade. And when it showed Steel, her gun lost several bits that stuck out, before the body folded out straight into a staff. The bone reformed at the head while the leather strips wrapped around the handle. Ozpin stopped the video at the point where they all had melee weapons in hand. Ironwood looked at them in interest.

"Incredible." He said after a while. "They somehow dismantled their weapons and rebuilt them in a different form. And all in mere seconds."

"My thoughts exactly. Though I don't think that it's natural for them. Their technique isn't as good as our students." Glynda said.

"Likely an attempt to fit in." Ozpin offered. "Still, it was effective enough. The students seemed very taken by them."

"Bring up the next video." Ironwood ordered. Glynda tapped at her scroll, the battle changing to a one-on-one fight between Aqua and a school student. The two danced around each other, blocking blows and striking at weak points. The three of them, however, were watching the board showing their Aura.

"Doesn't seem very strong." Ironwood noted, watching as it took a big dip at the student's first strike. But then the meter rose again, before dropping and rising again. It kept doing this over and over, until the girl's own Aura took a big hit and the match was ended. "How do you suppose she did that?"

"I have a theory." Ozpin replied. "My guess is that they have a personal shield instead of Aura, much like the 'Fallen' we engaged. Do you remember how quickly it regenerated when we stopped laying suppressing fire?"

"I remember." Ironwood said darkly. They lost a few friends because of that trick. "So if we do attack them, we have to keep them in sight at all times to stop their shields."

"Agreed." They played the video again. It stopped, showing Aqua tapping away at a holographic panel.

Ironwood frowned. "What is she doing there? And how did she bring that up?"

"We're still not too sure." Glynda said. "We've looked at it over and over, and our best guess is that it's tied to her armour again. As for what she's doing, we believe that she was engaging some feature of her shield." It played again, showing her charging straight for the student. A shield formed before her, blocking the shots fired at her until she was within range." The video continued, showing the final strike that ended that match. Aqua holstered her weapon before checking on the student.

"Again, impressive." Ozpin said. "But it's the final footage that I'm interested in the most."

"Really? What makes it so different?"

"We're almost completely certain that Aqua was showing her _full_ capabilities." Glynda replied. The screen now showed Aqua in the arena again, this time surrounded by outdated Atlesian Knights. When the fight started, this time Aqua seemed more cautious. She hid behind cover and took potshots. But she was accurate enough to disable several knights before she had to hide again. They saw her pull out a grenade – again, from nowhere – and toss it overhead. It acted very much like a flashbang, but the camera still saw her grabbing a shotgun from her back. She charged into a knight with her shoulder, sending it flying in pieces before attacking with her shotgun. There was a purple effect to the pellets, for some reason. By now, the others had regained the use of their sensors, and engaged her. Her shield dropped rapidly, until she punched and disintegrated a nearby knight. That somehow caused her shields to refill. Her shotgun transformed into a shield, allowing her to block attacks while she cleaved into them. Then, she holstered both weapons and jumped towards the remaining knights, her hands sparking. When they slammed against the ground, an explosion of force erupted from her, destroying the surviving knights. The video stopped, the fight over.

"…And just what do you think that last attack was? Some form of 'desperation attack'?"

"We don't know." Ozpin admitted. "But whatever it is, she seems to be able to only use it sparingly." He gave Ironwood a smile. "I don't know about you, but I personally believe that this was worth letting them run free for now."

Begrudgingly, Ironwood nodded. "What about the attack with the modified Ursa? Do you have that on hand?"

"I'm afraid we don't. No one was really in any position to record that fight. But I have a plan."

"Really? Does it have something to do with the two hikers disappearing in the forest?"

"I see you know about that already. We've had people looking into that, but so far they've found nothing. I see this as a good chance to test our students _and_ get more footage of what the Guardians are capable of."

"…Alright then. I'll trust you for a bit longer. But if I believe them to be a danger to us all, if I find proof: then I _will_ bring them in for a proper interrogation." He turned to leave. "We're going to find out what they're here for. One way, or another."

* * *

The next day, Tyrion was having a day of exploring.

It was a perfectly normal mission goal. There were still a lot of things they didn't know about, and a routine scouting mission would hopefully help them learn more. And a small Ghost like him would find it far easier to slip into places than the Guardians.

He told himself all that, but mainly it was to get away from the tension in the team.

Bianca and Titan Ti'ana were still not speaking to each other over the Ruby Rose incident. Warlock Katie was trying to play peacemaker, but so far she was lucky to get anything from them both. While he knew that Titan Ti'ana had acted rashly, her compassion for the child was one of the reasons The Traveller chose Humanity. As such, he was staying out of the whole thing.

He was musing over whether to investigate Headmaster Ozpin's office when he spotted two boys climbing a tree. That alone would've been suspicious, but his internal map told him that they were climbing up towards Team RWBY's quarters. It _never_ bodes well when boys try to get into an all-girls room. He floated up behind them, thinking over how to report this. Scare them? Have Bianca report them to another teacher? Maybe have a few words with them herself? For now, he would settle for taking footage of it. He could work from there. He activated his internal camera when his receptors overheard Team RWBY talking.

"…Remembers their roles?" A voice, acknowledged as Ruby Rose, asked.

"You and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies." He recognised Weiss Schnee's voice. "Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem."

"The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members." Blake Belladonna said. "If I can get in, I can hopefully learn what they're planning."

The White Fang. A known Pro-Faunus terrorist organisation. It seemed that Headmaster Ozpin _was_ right. They were getting into trouble again. He quickly linked up to Bianca, even as he listened in some more.

"I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows _everything_ going on in Vale. Getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard." Yang Xiao Long said.

"Great." Even as Ruby Rose cheered, Tyrion noticed the boys standing on the ledge by their window. One of them, a monkey Faunus, has hanging by his tail from the window itself. Clearly, he meant to surprise them. "We'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we found. Let's do this."

"Yeah." The monkey Faunus cheered along with her. Tyrion heard shuffled steps. Evidently, this Faunus surprised them.

"Sun!" He heard Blake Belladonna call out in surprise.

"How did you get up there?" Yang Xiao Long asked him.

"Ah, it's easy; I do it all the time." Sun responded. Weiss Schnee evidently took offence to that. Sun flipped himself into the room. "So, are we finally getting back at that Torchwick guy?"

"_We_ are going to investigate the situation... as a _team_." Blake Belladonna said firmly.

"Sorry, Sun." Ruby Rose apologised. "We don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to."

Sun scoffed. "That's dumb! We should always get friends involved! That's why I brought Neptune!" The girls looked out the window, seeing the blue-haired boy holding on tightly to the wall.

"'Sup?" The boy said, trying to appear calm. Ruby looked at him suspiciously. "How did you even get up here?"

"I have my ways." Neptune said, trying to wave it off. He glanced down at the very thin ledge he was standing on. "Seriously, though, can I come in? We're like, _really_ high up right now." Ruby Rose rolled her eyes, but she had Yang Xiao Long grab him and pull him in.

"Alright, I'll go with Weiss; Sun, you can go with Blake. And Neptune, you can go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner. Everyone good?"

Tyrion floated away, back towards their quarters. "Did you guys get all that?" He asked?

"Yeah. Sounds _exactly_ like what Ozpin asked us to look out for." Bianca replied. "We're going to split into three. One for each group. After a bit or arguing, we decided that I'll follow Blake and this 'Sun'. Our stealth field _should_ allow us to sneak into the meeting. Ti'ana's going to follow Ruby and Weiss, since she shouldn't stand out too much pretending to be a Huntress; and Katie will follow Yang and 'Neptune', since she sticks out less than Ti'ana in a shady place."

"Understood. I'll meet you at the hanger."

* * *

Ti'ana jumped off the roof of the building, lifting herself so that she hovered over to the next building. Without breaking stride, she jumped again to the building after that. She kept doing this, always one building behind Ruby and Weiss, until she ran out of roof to run on. She crouched down, watching the two of them heading towards the CCT.

"Are we sure that no one will recognise me here?" She said into her comms. "I don't want to get arrested over that night. Not while everyone's watching at least."

"You should be safe." Katie consoled her. "We were wearing heavy cloaks last time. The possibility of someone recognising you is minor at best." There was a pause. "Well, not if you hop off the roof. _That_ looks a bit suspicious."

"Right." She jumped off, lowering herself gently before walking calmly after them. A few people were surprised to see her, but no one looked like they were calling the police or anything. "How's it going at your end? Anything happening right now?"

"Not really. I'm still following Yang around. I think Blue boy's copping a feel. And I'm pretty sure she likes it."

"I found out why Belladonna seemed to appear out of thin air." Bianca's voice sounded on the comms. "She's a cat Faunus. Probably was a part of White Fang, given how much she knows about them."

"White Fang. Those guys hate the Schnee family, right?" Katie asked, bringing up the question Ti'ana wanted to ask, but wasn't going to. Despite the fact they were on a mission now, she still wasn't talking to Bianca.

"I guess Blake doesn't feel the same way. That, or she's hiding any intentions. We should probably keep a closer eye on them both. And see if we can find _anything_ on Belladonna."

"Right." Katie replied. "What about you, Ti'ana? How are the two lovebirds?"

"Still walking. Ruby's pretty excited about the CCT though. I think she's just naturally energetic about everything." She sat down at a bench, trying not to look interested as they stopped to banter. Ruby dropped her scroll, and it was picked up by someone familiar.

"Shit." She cursed. "Robot girl's here."

"Dammit. She must be keeping an eye out in case we strike again." Bianca said. "Ti'ana, don't… Katie, tell Ti'ana to not get into a fight with her. She's on recon only. If she gets spotted, pull out. If they figure out that we attacked the CCT, our cover is blown."

"Sure. Ti'ana, you got all that?"

"…Yes, _mother_. I'll behave." She looked back up to see Robot girl walking away quickly, with Ruby following her. "Ruby and Weiss have split up. Ruby's going after Robot Girl. Who should I follow?"

"Dammit." Bianca cursed louder.

"Katie here. Have Little Light follow Weiss. According to schematics, you need a registered scroll to get inside. Something you don't have without him."

"Once again, do _not_ get spotted." Bianca added. Ti'ana flipped her comms off and let Light fly away, following Ruby as he left. She kept a bigger distance from them this time, not willing to start a fight. From the sound of their conversation, Ruby was trying to get 'Penny' to tell her what happened to her. Where she disappeared to.

"Soo… Does she have her arms back now?" Katie asked.

"Yeah. I can't even tell they were ripped off." Ti'ana smirked.

"I didn't rip them off. I _sliced_ them off. There's a difference." Bianca retorted.

"Hold on. It sounds like Penny wants to meet Ruby elsewhere. And she wants her to get there separately."

"Where? If we know, you can get Light before following." Bianca asked.

"Give me a minute, ok? She wants to meet her in front of… Chupathingy."

"Chupathingy, Chupathingy…" That was Katie, having Dinklebot search the map for it. "I got it. It's a Mexican restaurant in town. About a couple of blocks from where you are right now."

"Wait for Light. If you hurry, you _should_ be able to find them again in time. Bianca, out." Ti'ana sat back down on a bench, leaning back and catching sunlight off her armour.

There was nothing to do but wait.

* * *

It was practically dark by the time Yang pulled into her contact's place. Katie had been following them as stealthily as a flame-deco Sparrow. From the look of the place, it was some kind of nightclub.

She tried to remember the last time she had been to a normal nightclub. It felt like before the Collapse had been the last time. But hey, maybe civilians go to nightclubs all the time in The City.

She crept up to the wall, using her glide to reach ladders and fire escapes. Thanks to that, she managed to get a bird's eye view of the club. Just in time to see two goons running inside in a panic. They slid the doors shut, but were knocked aside as Yang blasted her way in.

"Huh. Guess Yang and her contact aren't too friendly. His goons just pulled out a dozen pistols on her." She said into her comms. "Wait, hold on. The leader guy just told them all to stand down. And he's inviting her for a drink. I'll listen in, but this is actually pretty boring. How much fun are you guys having?"

"A little bit." Ti'ana admitted. "Penny just outed herself to Ruby. Turns out that she's some kind of… I don't know, proto-Exo."

"It's amazing." Little Light said. "She's a machine able to produce her own Aura. This world's first built Exo."

"Apart from that, not much going on over here. Ruby's just finished boarding up the dumpster she was thrown into."

"Wait. _Why_ was she thrown in a dumpster?"

"Apparently Atlas don't want anyone to find out about her. Penny threw her in to hide her from the guards."

"Bianca here." Bianca's voice crackled through. "Blake and Sun are entering the warehouse. I am sneaking in from above. Katie, status report."

"Hold on, just listening in." Katie sent Dinklebot down to listen in, but it was becoming pretty clear how useful this was. "Nothing. Her contact hasn't heard a thing about Torchwick since he hired some goons off him."

"The same goons Ruby kicked around like chickens? Ti'ana giggled.

"The same, from the looks of them. No wonder Torchwick dumped these guys." She got up, brushing down her robe as she walked away. "Well, this was a bust. What's next?"

"Keep following her." Bianca replied. "This was never about answers. It was just about keeping an eye on them and making sure they didn't do anything dangerous."

* * *

"Right. Understood." Katie replied. Bianca sneaked through the warehouse and past the guard, aware of the drain her invisibility was forcing on her power. As long as she didn't do too much, it should last her a while.

At least Blake and Sun were easy enough to spot. Even in this crowd there was something about them that made them stand out. They were staring at the stage, obviously interested in whatever was under the giant tarpaulin.

"Thank you all for coming." A sleeveless Faunus greeted everyone. "For those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight, allow me to introduce a very special comrade of ours! I can assure you, he is the key to obtaining what we have fought for for so long!" People started clapping until their 'comrade' walked onto the stage. It was a human, wearing a white suit and a bowler hat over orange hair.

"Just spotted Torchwick." Bianca whispered into her Comm. "Apparently he's the White Fang's key to obtaining whatever it is they're interested in."

"Faunus equality, apparently." Tyrion replied. "Though it shows signs of becoming Faunus superiority." Bianca kept watching as another human stepped out from behind the tarpaulin. A shorter girl, wearing a feminized suit and with multi-coloured hair.

"What's he talking about?" Katie asked.

"He's going on about how the government is behind Faunus suffering, and that they need to tear it down before they can obtain their freedom. Guess we know what Torchwick gets out of this."

"I always thought it was a zealot army willing to do his dirty work." Ti'ana added, evidently forgetting about their code of silence from the fight. Bianca stopped paying attention as the tarpaulin was brought down.

"Whoa." She said. "Guys. White Fang got their hands on some big-as robot. I'm sending you both a picture."

"I… I recognise that." Ti'ana said after a moment of silence. "It's Atlas' new battle robot thing. The Atlesian Paladin. But they said this wasn't coming out until the end of the year. How did they get their hands on one?"

"Corruption." Katie answered. "I bet you that Atlas has a few Faunus in high places, and they're working for White Fang. And Atlas couldn't get rid of them without being accused of discrimination. Sneaky bastards."

"We need to take it down. Something that tough is a danger to everyone." Bianca said.

"What about our 'cover'? I thought that was what was important?" Ti'ana scoffed.

"Shut up. I'm being serious here." She saw Torchwick watching Blake and Sun carefully. "Dammit. He's spotted them. I'll have to make a distraction."

"That electrical panel Blake Belladonna's eying is the main fuse box for the lights in this building. Destroying it should cause some confusion." Tyrion answered her.

"Nice." She pulled out her hand cannon and blasted it, the fuse box practically exploding. All the lights went out, and she ran straight for the windows. As she ran, she could hear hydraulics starting up for some reason. She jumped through the window at the same time as Blake and Sun, her shield protecting her from the glass.

And behind them, the wall exploded as the Paladin charged after them.

* * *

"Nice shot, Blake." Sun shouted as they ran away, shaking the glass off of them. "That fuse box was a great idea."

"But… But I didn't shoot it." Blake replied. Was there someone else there? Someone else spying on the White Fang? All those people, the ones who didn't want to join and only wanted to see… Her thoughts were interrupted as a loud crash filled the air. She turned to see the Paladin charging after them. And beside them was…

"Whelp. Never thought I'd have to run from a crazed robot ever again." Miss Gaea said calmly.

"Miss Gaea? What are you…? How did you…?" Realisation came to her. "Were you following us?" The three of them jumped onto a car nearby before jumping onto the building before them, Miss Gaea somehow creating pockets of air underneath her.

"Yep." She admitted. "And a good thing too, considering that first thing you do is get this asshole after you."

"Hey, I enjoy a reunion and all, but shouldn't we be calling for help?" Sun shouted.

"On it." Blake and Miss Gaea shouted at the same time. Blake looked at her in surprise before bringing out her scroll. She dialled the rest of the team, hoping that they were close by.

"Everyone!" She shouted into her Scroll. "If you can hear me, we need back up…"

"Help!" Sun shouted beside her. "Big robot! And it's big! Really big! That Torchwick guy is in it! But not, like, it didn't eat him; he's, like, controlling it or something."

"Where are you guys?" Yang responded. As they ran past another street, Blake saw Yang standing not far from them. As she watched, Miss Steel jumped down off the roof, a flame-decal hovering bike appearing underneath her.

"Come on! We'll head this way!" Miss Gaea shouted, tugging on Blake's arm. They moved away from the road, heading toward the roofs near the highway. They jumped up onto them, before using them to get onto the highway itself. Rolling as they landed, they jumped just in time to land on a couple of cars. "Well, that should keep him busy. It'll take him a bit before he can get up…" She was interrupted as Torchwick jumped onto the highway after them, knocking aside cars as he landed. "Shit. I hate it when I'm wrong."

"What do we do?" Sun shouted.

"Stop it, duh." Miss Gaea shouted back, pulling her sniper rifle out and crouching on the car. She blasted the Paladin several times, the sway of his running causing them to impact against his chest. She stopped for a moment, waiting. And then, her next round slammed into his shoulder. The arm sparked a bit, but held on. "You know, I wasn't meaning to do this alone. You're Hunters, aren't you? This should be a cakewalk."

"I don't think our weapons are built to take on something like that." Blake responded.

"Just think of it as that Ursa we fought. It can't be any harder than _that_." She kept sniping at it, her shots exploding against it.

Where were the others?

* * *

"Geez this guy is dangerous." Ti'ana muttered, following the trail of destruction he left. They were keeping pace with Yang now, the Paladin rampaging ahead. "Katie, get that thing's attention."

"Can do." Katie replied, pulling her rocket launcher out of her Ghost. Thankfully, hers was fitted with a lock-on system. Which was really good, since apparently Torchwick had noticed them. He shoulder charged a line of cars, sending them all flying towards them.

"Hold your rocket!" Ti'ana shouted as she swerved around the flying cars. If she was still driving her old sparrow, she wouldn't been able to survive the mayhem.

Which wasn't too bad for them. But it was hard to keep cover when you're 'dead'.

"Have we got enough boost?" Katie asked her. She looked down at the dash to see the Boost bar almost empty.

"Not quite. Hold on, and prepare to do a trick." She gunned the boost, heading straight towards a car on its roof. The sparrow flew over it, flying high. Ti'ana spun the Sparrow around, while Katie held on with just her hands on her shoulders. When they landed, the inertia of the trick topped up the boost. "Ok. Now, blast it."

"Right." She pulled out her rocket launcher again, firing the rocket right at him. Torchwick tried to dodge, but the rocket followed him like a death cry from a Shrieker. The rocket slammed into his back, arc sparking all over him. The Paladin stumbled, obviously damaged. She slotted in another rocket, her armour interfacing with the mods of the Triple 0 to help her. In only a second, she was ready to blast again. The only reason she paused was because Sun and Neptune had both jumped on. And then they were both sent flying, having found it difficult to hold on. With them in the clear, she fired again. Her second rocket slammed into his side, knocking him down. He skidded along before trying to get back up, just when Weiss appeared before him. She created a line of ice, and he slid along it until he fell through the barrier and down to the ground below.

"Are we gonna take part?" Katie asked. Ti'ana headed straight for the gap. "Just checking." They drove off both hopping off the Sparrow as it crashed and exploded on top of the paladin. They both landed next to the students, Blake, Sun, Yang, Neptune and Bianca already there.

"Freezer burn." Ruby shouted, blasting herself back. Blake followed her while Weiss made another patch of ice. Yang was jumping above, before shooting her gauntlet right into the ice. Mist filled the area they were in, nearly blinding them.

"I've marked the Paladin's last known location on your HUD." Light said. "I'll keep you updated everytime we see him."

"Right. Let's get moving team." Ti'ana called out. "Katie. You and I will target his sensors. He can't fight us if he can't see us. Bianca, hit him with a Golden Gun."

"Right." They all moved, Ti'ana starting the assault from the front. She dodged as he blasted at her, allowing Katie to attack a sensor. Distracted by her, he left himself wide open for her real attack. And as they kept him busy, Team RWBY charged in with their own attacks. Weiss and Blake charged in too, driving the points of their blades into other sensors. Obviously frustrated, Torchwick opened fire with a volley of missiles. Just like dealing with a Cabal Colossus. They scattered, Ti'ana and Bianca throwing their grenades at the missile racks. They exploded, setting things on fire and causing arc to spark everywhere.

"Now Bianca." She called out. Bianca started up her Golden Gun, aiming carefully for his shoulder. One round caused it to burst into flames. Two rounds caused it to hang loose. And three blew the whole thing off. Ti'ana yelled loudly as she charged in, her personal barrier weathering the attack from his remaining arm. She unleashed her fist of havoc, slamming it down against the ground before it. Parts of it started exploding as it was forced back, and it fell to one knee. She climbed up it until she was on the top, pointing her shotgun right at the other arm. She blasted it again and again, sparks flying as it became mangled. He stood back up, shaking her off with ease. But she smiled. Little Light estimated that it didn't have much further to go.

And besides, he forgot about Team RWBY

"Ladybug." Ruby called out, her and Blake charging in. They both slashed at his legs from either side, leaving another groove in the metal with each pass. As he tried to stomp them, white circles appeared beneath them and pulled them away. "Ice Flower." She and Weiss took up position, Weiss creating another circle before Ruby as she pointed Crescent Rose at him. Frost streamed after the bullet, ice forming on his Paladin.

"Nice job Ruby. Girls, time to finish this with a Sunsinger combo." Katie nodded, suddenly glowing with solar energy. Ti'ana and Bianca could feel her empowering them, and from the looks of it, it was spreading to the others too. The three of them charged in guns blazing, tossing grenades and knives and punches as quickly as they could. The paladin wilted under their assault, melting from the flames of their grenades.

And Ti'ana had picked up enough orbs of Light for another pass.

"Arrgh!" She yelled, charging her fists again. But this time, instead of smashing the ground, she slammed her fists into the cockpit of the Paladin. It shattered apart under her blow, Torchwick flying away from the force. He skidded along the ground before coming to a halt, all of them with their guns trained on him.

"I just got this thing cleaned." Torchwick moaned, more concerned with his suit than the lot of them surrounding him. "Well, it's been fun meeting you all tonight. But I've got an important meeting coming up, and I'd hate to miss it in prison."

"Then I guess you're in for some disappointment." Katie remarked. "Because there's seven of us, and one of you." Torchwick smirked at her as she said that.

"Two, actually." A girl in a suit jumped down, holding onto an umbrella for some reason. She smiled sweetly at them before bowing.

"Something's not right." Bianca said more to herself. "No way he thinks we'll just let him go…" Her musing was interrupted by Yang charged straight for them, gauntlet at the ready. "Wait! It's some kind of trick!" Too late, she punched them. Or rather, she shattered them. It was some kind of illusion. The _real_ Torchwick was flying away in a copter. Katie tried to blast him out of the air, but the girl fired a shot back and made it explode in mid-air.

"Aw. He got away again." Ruby groaned. Ti'ana holstered her guns just in time for Yang to get in her face.

"What are you three doing here? Did you follow us or something?" She asked. Evidently, she didn't like being followed by faculty.

"Yeah, well… Bianca was worried that… Ruby would do something crazy in hopes that it would get a Ghost to notice her. Or something like that."

"Wait. What?" Bianca asked. Ti'ana waved her down.

"You really think that my little sister would go after a dangerous criminal simply to get noticed by your guys?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, it's what I would've done when I was her age."

"Did it work?" Ruby asked excitedly. "I mean, not that it's _why_ we did it. But do you think a Ghost noticed?"

"Well, considering we're pretty sure there aren't any Ghosts in Vale… No."

"Well, how about you guys? Did it impress you?"

"Not really." Bianca said. "I get that you guys are reasonably skilled and all that. But there's a reason the police handle terrorist groups and not Huntresses in training." Ruby sagged, obviously disappointed and a bit guilty. "Come on. We'll all head back to Beacon and no one has to learn about this little vigilante business. Agreed?"

"Yes ma'am." They chorused.

And so, the busy day finally came to a close.

* * *

**There we go. You know, this chapter was going to be a lot shorter originally. After the scene with Ti'ana and Katie talking, it was going to go right into Tyrion finding out about RWBY going into town. But I felt that we should see what Ironwood feels about the Guardians.**

**Yes, he knows about them. He was with Ozpin when they first met the Fallen. Oh, of course they met them. How else did they discover that alien text about the Guardians and the Traveller?**

**The whole scene with Ruby wanting to become a Guardian just popped into my head and seemed like a cool bit of possibility. It might happen, it might not. We'll just have to see what happens after this.**

**Thanks to the House of Wolves, we learn a bit more about what the Reef is like. I used that in order to make Ti'ana's backstory. She was originally just going to be an Earthborn found in France, but I thought about **_**why**_** she'd be so interested in Ruby. The idea that they were very much alike seemed perfect. And Guardian interest would probably keep people interested during the Dark Ages.**

**And the way I see it, Ti'ana and Bianca both have good points. In fact, if this was any other story or if there were Ghosts in Remnant, then Ti'ana would be right. But there aren't. So Bianca is the right one.**

**Oh, and for those thinking I'm demonising Ironwood, or flanderising him… He's always been concerned about public safety. If there is a threat to people, his idea is to blow it to hell. So of course he wouldn't like Guardians when he knows nothing about them. He will become very plot relevant in the future. I guarantee it.**

**But next time, we finally get to find out what happened to our little explorers.**

**It. Will. Not. Be. Pretty.**

**The Hive never are.**

**P.S. For those of you wondering, the Thantonauts are Warlocks who kill themselves over and over for research. Even Guardians think they're weird, and some of them disarm mines by stepping on them and dying.**


	5. Night of the Living Hive

**Sorry this took a while to do. I had a major case of writer's block. Everytime I tried to get further in this, I'd end up freezing up on ideas. Who says what, who does this and that. But I finally managed to break through it and get it done. So enjoy**

**PS. I apologise in advance for the corny title.**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Night of the Living Hive**

Katie was tapping her foot nervously as they rode the elevator to the top of the clock tower. This was the first time since they were hired that Headmaster Ozpin asked to see them. The fact that it was apparently 'urgent' _and_ a couple of days after the ruckus in town didn't make her feel easier. How would he react to finding out that they had let some of his students infiltrate a known terrorist organisation? Would he simply yell at them? Or would they get fired? And what if he decided to probe their flimsy cover story? The longer this went on for, the more she felt that he was less likely to believe any of it.

Still, until they found their missing ships, they were just going to have to keep playing along and redirect their attention as soon as possible.

Of course, that would be so much easier if Ti'ana and Bianca were actually speaking to each other. Right now, they were simply ignoring each other, now that the danger and the mission had passed. She could get them to talk to her, but any attempt to get them to talk to _each other_ was met with silence. About the only good thing about this was that it gave her loads of time to study the dust crystals without interruption or distraction. And she was getting somewhere with them. Well, at least they weren't exploding in her face anymore.

"Welcome Guardians." Ozpin said to them when the elevator opened, his face and voice showing no sign of his emotions or thoughts. "Please. Have a seat." He waited until they had sat down before he continued. "I have to say, I'm actually rather impressed with your skills. Both individually _and_ as a team." They looked at him in confusion. Well, Katie did at least. "Professor Port told me of your skill in fighting that new Ursa, and the other teachers said similar things when your classes ran into heavy resistance. And then there's Miss Aqua's show in the arena against the robots. That is why I thought that perhaps it was time to test your skills again, but in a different way."

"What exactly do you have in mind for us?" Bianca said curtly.

"I was thinking that it might be a good time to test your teaching and leadership skills first-hand. Instead of acting as aids for a hunt, you three will be leading a class on a hunt for potentially dangerous Grimm."

"All three of us? Sir, wouldn't it be easier to have us teach three different classes if you wanted to test those skills?" Ti'ana asked him. Katie was thinking along the same lines. And she also felt that this 'teaching' was just an excuse for something.

"Having all three of you will allow me to see how you fit into your own team structure. So far it feels as though you all generally do your own thing during a battle. There doesn't seem to be a clear command structure going on."

"There kinda isn't, Sir." Katie admitted. "Guardians usually fight on their own. When we link up with other guardians to fight a dangerous foe, we usually end up attacking our own targets unless someone orders otherwise. We are trained in all types of weapons to cover all bases. So for example, Ti'ana here could be brawling with Grimm before jumping to higher ground and taking up a sniper spot. While at the same time, I could be acting as grenadier and decoy, before acting as a support member."

"And perhaps that works best for guardians. But one powerful foe isn't enough data for me to determine how to place you three from now on. Consider this your 'homework' for today."

"What's the mission?" Bianca asked, cutting to the chase. Ozpin hesitated, before pulling up something on his monitor. It showed two people standing before a forest, smiling.

"Several days ago, two hikers went out the Forever Fall Forest for a hiking trip. According to their families, they haven't heard a word from them during this whole time. It's standard practise for hikers to send out daily comms to reassure their families that they're still alive, given the number of Grimm out there."

"Maybe they're having communication error." Katie said, trying to find a reasonable response. No one liked having 'killed by monsters' be their first answer.

"They were due back three days ago. No one's seen a trace of them, and our own teams haven't found any sign of them. It's my hope that you three might have more luck than us with your enhanced technology. And a few extra hunters in training wouldn't hurt either."

_Knew it._ Katie thought to herself. This wasn't actually a class thing. That was just a bonus. "You think that something like that Ursa we fought might've had something to do with their disappearance." She noted.

Ozpin hesitated, before sighing. "Correct. Most Ursa aren't strong enough to threaten a whole class like that one did. And any Ursa old enough and tough enough to do so live far away from the confines of the forest. But we've had at least two more attacks since Port's class. A Nevermore that fired off clouds of some dark mist, and a Deathstalker that shot a form of plasma. Both were reported as being heavily mutated, and possibly even more feral than normal. We're concerned that our hikers ran into another of those beasts."

"So our mission is to find the hikers dead or alive, kill whatever attacked them, and make sure our class survives it." Ti'ana summed up.

"And I also want you to see if you can find out how and where they're coming from. Since Grimm tend to turn to ash after death we haven't been able to determine if these new abilities are some form of mutation, or…"

"Or if someone out there is altering them by hand." Katie finished. They had a possible idea of who might be behind this. But they still needed more info first. Were these Grimm experiments from ages ago, accidently released? Or are they only recent? "Alright then. We'll go and look into it. Who exactly are we going to bring with us?"

Ozpin smiled. "I've already got a few names in mind."

* * *

"Eeeeee!" Ruby squealed in excitement. "I love working with the Guardians. This is going to be so cool. I bet they're going to show off awesome new abilities and cool weapons that probably shoot fireworks or lasers or… ooh, ooh. Maybe something that unleashes a monster on the Grimm."

"Well, Ruby certainly seems hyped about them." Jaune said to Weiss as they trailed after the hyperactive teen.

"You have _no_ idea. They're practically all she ever talks about." Weiss replied. "'Oh, Miss Aqua's armour is so high-tech. Oh, she managed to punch out an Ursa. Oh, I really want her babies.'" She paused. "Ok, that last one's an exaggeration. But it still feels like she's going to ask for her hand in marriage, the way she goes on."

Jaune chuckled. "Well, you have to admit that they certainly seem pretty tough. They just jump right in and start mowing down Grimm that give us some trouble. Just the other day, we ran into two Deathstalkers. My team handled one of them, while Miss Steel took out the other practically on her own. She just tossed this swirling purple orb that exploded it like it was nothing."

"I won't deny that they're tough. And skilled. But Ruby's going completely overboard about them. She's even determined to actually become a Guardian herself."

"Uh, aren't Guardians just another name for a Hunter?" Jaune asked confused.

"I don't think so. At the very least, they've definitely got some weird tech. And apparently they're boosted by something called 'a ghost'. Without one of those, you're just a fool pretending to be a Guardian." By now, they had reached the hanger. And smackdab in the centre of the bay was Miss Aqua's jet, hovering above them. Standing just below it were the Guardians. Ruby and Nora were already waiting nearby, almost bouncing around with energy. "But something feels off about them. I used to think that it was just that they've been isolated for so long, but then I contacted Schnee Headquarters. No one working for them… for _us_… has ever found a single sign of any significant city outside the kingdoms. And the area they said they're from? There's apparently so much Grimm out there than you'd be lucky enough to last the night, let alone build a city."

"You think they're lying to us?"

"I think they're definitely hiding something."

Miss Gaea stepped forward, watching them all carefully. "Alright kids. Line up here. Miss Schnee, Mr Arc, Miss Belladonna; hurry up." Weiss and Jaune rushed into line, but when she looked back she saw Blake still deep in thought. "Miss Belladonna. Blake Belladonna!"

Blake jolted as she finally heard her name, looking up to see Miss Gaea glaring at her. Or she could've been. It was hard to tell under her helmet. Blake blushed as she ran into line. "Ok then. Now that I've got _everyone's_ attention, we need to go over a few things. Some of them you'll already know. But I still want to make sure that everyone's paying attention." She looked at Blake again. "Now, as your messages likely told you, we are your teachers for this lesson. That means that we have the final say on all things. If we give you orders, we expect you to listen to them. We tell you to run, you start running. I don't want backchat, arguments or anyone doing some crazy plan to try and 'impress' us." She transferred her gaze to Ruby. "This isn't a game people, as no doubt your other teachers have told you. If you fool around out here, you _will_ die."

Miss Aqua moved forward. "Oookay then. Now that we've got the 'I'm being a strict ass' bit over and done with," Bianca gave her a look, "everyone group up. Things are gonna be a bit cramped inside my ship since it wasn't exactly built to hold ten plus people."

"Shouldn't we move away so you can land your ship, and then hop aboard by the ramp?" Pyrrha asked while they bunched together, sounding confused.

"Nope." Ti'ana replied simply, before everything flashed white. It was only for a slight second, but by the time they were able to blink the spots from their eyes they found themselves inside a small room. A small-_ish_ room. A smallish and _tight_ room. Ruby grunted as someone shoved their elbow into her stomach.

"Sorry." Jaune apologised as he stepped back, bumping into Weiss. "Sorry." He said again, stepping away from her and standing on Yang's foot. "Sorry." He said a third time, trying to back away again. But Miss Steel's hand reached out and grabbed him.

"Ok. You don't need to be that bunched up anymore now. Find a seat if you can." She said, clapping her hands. Ruby and Pyrrha found themselves standing by the table, so they claimed the seats for themselves. Nora and Ren sat down on the bed, while Yang joined Ruby by sitting on the table itself. Weiss, Jaune, Blake, Miss Steel and Miss Gaea all stood, grabbing onto rails attached to the walls. Miss Steel banged the back of her fist against the door behind her, and Ruby felt the room move. Right, this was inside the ship. Miss Gaea tapped at something on the wall, and a window popped up. No, not a window. A viewscreen.

"Wow." Yang said, sounding impressed. "How did we even get in here?"

"Short range teleportation." Miss Steel said matter-of-factly. "It won't get you from the hangers to your rooms, but it's enough to get us onto the ship in a hurry."

"Useful for if you're being chased by Grimm and can't wait around to have your ship land." Miss Aqua's voice sounded over the intercom.

"Sounds pretty good." Jaune said. "There's plenty of stories about Hunters getting overwhelmed by Grimm numbers when they stopped to hop onboard a Bullwing." By now, they had left the city limits. This thing was fast.

"There's something bugging me, though." Weiss said. "There's only one bed on board this ship, and yet there's three of you. I somehow don't think you all work from the same ship, or else there'd be more. So where are _your_ ships?" Miss Steel looked away, probably embarrassed.

"That's not important right now." Miss Gaea replied tersely. "Right now, we need to focus on the mission."

"It's a simple search and rescue, right?"

"Mostly. Two hikers went missing a few days ago while out in the Forever Fall Forest. Ozpin thinks that they might've run into another of those monsters roaming around."

"You mean the big angry freaky Grimm?" Yang asked.

"Pretty much. He thinks that someone is modifying them, and I tend to agree. None of that stuff on the Ursa looked natural."

"But… why would someone do that?" Ruby asked in confusion. "Grimm can't be trained or controlled. They tried that ages ago, back during The War. They ended up scrapping the idea when the Grimm attacked everyone, both ally and enemy." Miss Steel and Gaea looked at each other, as though thinking along the same lines.

"We don't know yet. That's something we're hoping to find out down there."

"I thought we were rescuing someone."

"We are. But finding out anything about what attacked them is our secondary objective. If it's Grimm, we pop a few heads and then go back home. If it's the monsters, we try to find out anything we can. Even if it's just their feeding habits or where they roam. If it's worse…" She shook her head. "Well, we'll deal with that when or if we get to that. This mission has way too much missing information, so make sure you're all _fully_ prepared. Bring everything you've got. We might just need it all." Everyone nodded. As Ozpin repeatedly drilled into their heads, this wasn't a game. They each checked their gear, ensured that they had enough ammo and Dust. When they looked up, they were surprised to see that the Guardians were much more heavily armed than before. Miss Gaea had a strange silvery stubby gun attached to her hip, and a large long red gun with blue stripes on parts of it. Her pistol – _hand cannon_, Ruby reminded herself – was now hanging onto her leg, though she couldn't tell how. When Miss Steel turned around, she had a long orange shotgun hanging off the left side of her back, and an orange rocket launcher hanging off her right side. She was holding her main gun in her hands already.

"I know you said that we needed to be prepared… but that seems a little _too_ prepared." Jaune chuckled nervously.

"Guardians believe that if something's worth hitting with one rocket, it's worth hitting with half a _dozen_ rockets." Miss Steel said to him. "Besides, most Guardians are expected to handle a sizable amount of enemies on their own, and that means having more firepower than most people." She rolled her shoulders though. Maybe the left the heavier stuff onboard the ship to be dropped off later or something.

"Guys? Approaching the drop point." Miss Aqua said. "And the radar's picked up something odd already."

"Is it our missing hikers?" Miss Steel asked excitedly.

"Maybe. I _am_ picking up a communicator down there. But… well, it'll be easier to explain once we're on the ground." Ruby looked out the viewscreen, amazed to see the red leaves of the Forever Fall Forest below them. Already? But they hadn't been flying for all that long. "All members, thank you for flying Awoken Airlines. We hope you had a pleasant trip, and can't wait to see you again."

"Cut the jokes Ti'ana." Miss Gaea said sternly.

"Fine." They stopped moving now, and were going downwards. "Dropping us off in 3…2…1…" A bright flash, and they found themselves now standing in the forest. Above them, the ship was flying upwards. "The Phaeton's gonna provide us with air support and mission control. Hopefully, the radar can pick up anything trying to creep up on us." Miss Aqua held her rifle in her hand, a red shotgun on her back alongside her red-and-white machine gun. Ruby almost felt as though between the three of them they had enough firepower to take over the city if need be. "You guys... set up a perimeter or something. We just need to look at something." The Guardians walked away, conversing between themselves. Leaving the two teams standing in the open.

"Why would we need to set up a perimeter?" Nora asked. "Doesn't she have a big ship that'll tell her if any Grimm are close?"

"I think it was just an attempt to distract us while they look at something." Ren replied.

"Well, in that case I think we should definitely see what they're hiding." Weiss was already walking in their direction. "I'm tired of the three of them keeping secrets from us. In fact, I think they know more about this mission than they're telling us. Anyone want to see what they're up with me?" The rest of them hesitated for a moment, before joining them. Only Blake wasn't moving. Ruby looked closely at her. Come to think about it, she wasn't sure if Blake had even heard a word of what Weiss had said.

"Blake?" She called out. But she didn't react. "Blake?"

"Huh?" She looked up, to see Ruby almost right in her face. "Oh. Hey Ruby. Have we found them yet?"

"Nnno. We haven't even really started yet. Are you… feeling ok?"

"I'm fine." Blake brushed her off. "Let's just find those two idiots and get back to Beacon." She hurried off after the teams, leaving Ruby behind. She was starting to get really worried. Blake had been distracted ever since they went to that White Fang meeting. True, they got her to admit that she was worried about what they were planning – anything with that _Torchwick_ guy wasn't gonna be good for anything – and she knew that they had agreed to stop them. But Blake was taking it too personal. She was barely getting any sleep, or doing any homework. She just kept researching everything she could, as if she could somehow find a connection that would reveal everything. This made her remember when Yang was younger. When she was driven to know who her real mom was. When she dragged Ruby to a distant home on their home island of Patch.

When she nearly got herself killed trying to find the truth.

_Someone's got to get her to slow down before she gets herself killed. Or anyone else._ Ruby thought as she rushed to catch up with the others. She found them nearing a clearing. Well, clearing wasn't the right word. Crash site would be better. Something had ploughed through the trees to reach this point, leaving a ravaged trail behind it. From what she could see, it had a similar shape to the phaeton high above them, just with an extra fin on top. And a huge cut-out area between the wings.

Wait. Wasn't the Phaeton able to track them or something?

Miss Aqua suddenly turned and pointed at them, and the Guardians raised their weapons.

* * *

Bianca started cursing even as she holstered her gun again. Those damn kids. Why couldn't they have just followed orders? How the hell was she going to explain this to them? And why didn't Ti'ana let them know sooner? She glared at the Titan before stepping forward in a huff.

"I thought we told you guys to stay and secure a perimeter." She said angrily. "What if something snuck up on you lot?"

"Well, we thought about that. But honestly your order sounded more like something to keep us busy instead. And quite frankly, I think that if you find anything that could help this mission, we deserve to know about it too." Ms Schnee said haughtily. Fantastic. Fan. _**Fucking**_. Tastic. Now what the hell were they going to do? They couldn't exactly sneak her ship to a secure and secret area if these kids knew about it. And if the government got their hands on it… She groaned. There were entire libraries of stuff on board. Mission logs from her previous flights. Map locations. Frequencies. All kinds of stuff that were meant to be wiped clean in the event of a crash and loaded onto a ghost to avoid falling into enemy hands.

And while they were nowhere _near_ Earth, this world still counted as enemy hands right now.

"So what did you guys find?" Ms Xiao Long asked, looking over the ship's battered frame. "Some kind of transport maybe? Another attack? It looks a lot like your 'phaeton.'" She noted.

"Tyrion, _please_ tell me that you've got some way to wipe their memories." She pleaded with her ghost.

"Funnily enough, that's not something the Traveller believed would've come up very often. Or at least I'm assuming so, since I can't think of any way of doing so." He replied. So now what? What were their options. Shooting them was immediately out of the question. They were children. And Ozpin would find it strange if they were found killed by bullets. But what else _was_ there?

"Yeah, there's a funny story about that." Katie was saying. Bianca fought the urge to press her hands to her face. This was going to go _horribly_ wrong. "You see… It's actually Bianca's ship." There we go. Instant failure. Goodbye secrecy. Hello autopsy tables.

Ms Nikos looked at them funnily. "If this is your ship, what is it doing all the way out here?" She asked. Bianca glared at Katie.

"This was your stupid idea. _You_ come up with an excuse." She said through her comms.

"It crashed." Katie replied calmly. Good old Exo non-existent nerves.

"I can see that. Could you explain _why_ it crashed? And all the way out here?"

"It was… a Nevermore ambush."

"Really?"

_What?_

"Yeah. We were flying out to see about this Vale kingdom when we ran into a massive flock of Nevermores. Adult ones too. As big as the ships. We tried to fight back, but they were doing a heavy number to us. In the end, we just started legging it. Bianca and I got shot down, and it's only thanks to our teleporters that Ti'ana managed to save us. Haven't got a clue where our ships crashed though."

Ms Nikos turned to face Bianca. "Is this true?"

"It… Yeah. It's true." Bianca admitted. What else could she do?

"Why keep it so secretive then? Plenty of ships get hit by Nevermores. Some make it back, others don't. It's not that weird." Ms Valkyrie said. Bianca breathed a sigh of relief. At least it meant that it was more believable.

"I was embarrassed." She lied. "Here we are, dealing with tough Grimm like nothing, and one of our ships gets taken out so easily."

"Two ships." Katie added. Bianca ignored her.

"I just didn't want you kids to think I'm incompetent because I got shot down."

"We don't think that." Ruby Rose said quickly. "It took the whole team working together to deal with just _one_ Nevermore. No one thinks less of you guys for surviving a whole flock."

"Great. Well, in that case. You guys, secure a perimeter…" The kids groaned. "Hey, just because Ti'ana's got a radar dish doesn't mean that we still shouldn't keep a watch for Grimm. You might see something we can't pick up. In the meantime, I need to make sure that this thing still works." She jumped down towards the cockpit, stepping over sparking panels and crumpled metal. She waited until everyone had moved away to keep a lookout before getting to work. "Tyrion, can we repair this at all?"

"Maybe." He admitted, floating out of her body and scanning the frame. "It's pretty mangled. If I _can_ get it to work, it's only going to be enough to get us to Vale City. And even _that_ might be too much for it."

"But if we do get it to Vale?"

"It's still going to be at least a week of heavy repairs before it can be considered flight-certified by the Tower hanger standards." He flew into the ship, zapping away at panels and lifting parts back into alignment. It was slow going though. "I just had a thought. It's likely that the trail, if it still exists, will be in a cave, right?"

"Probably. Half of our missions end up in caves anyway." She replied, shrugging.

"So did you remember to bring a torch or something?" She stared at him for several seconds before slamming her fist against the ship.

"Shit." She cursed. "Now what the hell are we supposed to do? We cannot have you guys floating around as our torches."

"Way ahead of you. I'm already fashioning some glimmer into shoulder-mounted torches." His beam deposited several small torches in her hands before he turned to continue working on the battered ship. "Ok. One more tweak here. Knock a couple of transistors into alignment there…" The panels started glowing again while a rumbling roar thrummed from the engines. "It's working. We have lift-off." The engines shut down with a clank. "Or we would if we were leaving right now."

"Wait. You're not even gonna see if it can fly?" Bianca asked, confused.

"There is still a _lot_ of damage here. I'm worried that if we get it flying, it might not start up again. Or it might shut down and crash while we're searching for the hikers. Better to just leave it like this until we come back."

She sighed. It was annoying, to be so close to getting her ship back. But he had a good point. They might only have one shot at this. "Alright then. Guess we're picking it up after." She crawled over the metal frame until she reached solid ground again, the others waiting for them.

"That didn't sound good." Katie said.

"It's fine. But everything's pretty dented. It's probably better to just let it rest until we leave. Less chance of another crash." She turned to the team, tossing the torches. "It's gonna be pretty dark in whichever cave these guys are stuck in. You'll want these if you plan on seeing anything." The others were already attaching the torches to their clothes, but Belladonna just threw hers back.

"I can see in the dark." She replied as explanation. Right, she was a Faunus. Guess everyone in this little group knew that already. There were a few notes in teacher reports that the two teams hung out a lot, but she didn't realise that they were so tight-knit.

"Fine then. Everyone stick together then. No telling what's waiting for us down… wherever we're going." She turned to look at Ti'ana, who was more interested in whatever Light was telling her.

"Radar's picked up a weak signal, coming from thataway." She said, pointing towards a large mountain nearby. "Unless there's another missing group out here, I'd say that's our guys." She started heading that way, gun in hand and ready if they were surprised by anything. The rest of them followed closely, eyes occasionally roaming for danger. Bianca was watching the rear while Katie was in the middle of the group. As she kept an eye on her personal radar, she noticed Belladonna lagging behind the others.

"I know what you're thinking." Tyrion said. "And she _does_ seem to be suffering signs of sleep deprivation. Perhaps the stress of being a Huntswoman is too much for her?"

"After the display she pulled against that mech? I doubt it. But something is definitely off. Bring up the latest reports on her for me." Bianca replied.

"Done." The left side of her HUD was filled with scrolling pages, allowing her to go over them while still able to keep an eye out for trouble. She ran through them, skimming through the boring stuff and picking out anything odd. "I'm starting to see a pattern here.

"Same. Grades are dropping everywhere. And it started a couple of days after their spy mission. That might be what's bugging her."

"What, the idea that her more radicalised brethren are working alongside a known terrorist for some secretive plan? Whatever gave you _that_ idea?" Tyrion said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes, aware that he was the only one who would see them. "Want me to keep note on her behaviour?"

"Please. And I'd better keep her with me during this mission. The last thing I want is for her to end up getting herself killed because she's working herself to the bone." Traveller, sometimes it feels like she has to be the responsible one for _everyone_. Her fireteam, the kids, random Guardians she fought alongside. She closed down the lists as everyone stopped, staring at the giant gash in the mountainside.

"Whoa." Ruby Rose said in awe, eyes practically glittering. "It's so big."

"I'm… _really_ not sure I want to meet whatever made that crack." Jaune Arc said nervously. According to _his_ reports, he was just scraping by in all departments. Evidently, his greatest strength was his planning skills. "That's even bigger than the one the Death Stalker made."

"Relax Jaune. It'll be ok." Ruby consoled him. "After all, we've got Guardians on our side." She pumped her fist excitedly. Bianca glared at Ti'ana. This was her fault. She just _had_ to get the kid so excited. "Onward to victory!" She started marching inwards until Ti'ana grabbed her by the cape.

"Whoa there. Slow down Ruby." She said as she pulled her back. "Teachers first, remember." She stepped forward until she saw Bianca next to her. "Except you. You're the guarding the rear."

"That's just what I was thinking." Bianca said acidly. She spotted Katie shaking her head from the corner of her eye as they headed into the cave. The many beams managed to light the place up enough that you could pick out every detail on the walls. This place had the feel of being completely natural.

Until you looked at the way the floor was constructed.

"Hey uh, does anyone know if spirals are natural rock formations?" Ruby asked, rubbing her head as she peered over the edge. Her light picked out a curved path moving round and round, an endless abyss in the centre. Bianca was forcibly reminded of the path into the Hall of Wisdom, back on the Moon.

No one responded. They just readied their weapons and headed deeper inwards. The sound of their footsteps echoed through the silence.

* * *

Despite the darkness and the fact that it felt like they were going down into a bottomless pit, it didn't actually take them that long to get to the bottom of the spiral. Katie still felt… well, not _nervous_ exactly. More alert would be a better term right now. Especially since a lot of signs pointed to something nasty. Something familiar.

The group stopped when they reached three long halls, each both natural and yet manufactured at the same time. To the casual observer, these halls were formed somehow in the rocks. Channels for air, or water perhaps. But to the Guardians, this was just more proof of what was waiting for them down there.

"So, all in favour of Hive?" Ti'ana asked through the comms. Katie was inclined to agree with her. But Bianca was being… stubborn.

"Not yet." She replied. "This could be something else. We can't go down there already assuming that we know what's waiting for us." She nodded at each hallway. "We'll split into three teams and scout out the areas ahead. Report in if you find anything odd."

"Like what, an army of monsters?" Katie snarked.

"Ok, hopefully not _that_. I'll take Schnee and Belladonna. Katie, you'll be leading Xiao Long, Nikos and Rose down the right hallway."

"And I guess that leaves me with Nora, Ren and Jaune." Ti'ana said. "I'll tell them everything we know about…"

"No." Bianca cut her off. "Let's just wait and see if there are actually any Hive down here before we start talking about undead aliens."

"Are you serious? We're actually gonna lead these kids into a dark ominous cave and _not_ warn them about the creepy freaks that'll happily torture them? What the hell's gotten into you Bianca?"

"Look, in case you've forgotten we're trying to pretend to be like everyone else. It's kinda hard to do that if you start talking about aliens. If you see some Hive stuff down here then by all means you can tell them everything you think they need to know about them. But until then, can you _please_ act normal?"

"You don't think we might run into some?" Katie asked.

"I just… Do you really think the Hive would let a city live so close if they were here?"

"…She has a point Ti'ana." Katie said quietly. Ti'ana stared at her before storming off in a huff. She sighed. One of these days they were going to have to stop this. Maybe once they find her ship and figure out how to get back home. There just had to be a way back. If they could get sent here in the first place then there had to be a way back home.

"Arc, Valkyrie, Ren. Catch up to her before she gets too far ahead." Bianca called out. The three of them nodded and ran off after her. "Katie. Grab your group and get going."

She nodded in reply. "Alright then. Ruby, Yang, Pyrrha. With me. Keep an eye out for anything strange you see down here." The three of them sidled up to her as she headed for another hallway. She was already feeling a bit on edge. Despite how natural the hall looked, it still had familiar hallmarks of the Hellmouth. She wouldn't be too concerned if she was going with the others, or even alone. But she had kids with her. And she knew that if the Hive got their hands on them, they wouldn't get back up a few clicks away like _they_ would.

"So what are we looking out for anyway?" Yang asked her, gauntlets at the ready. That kind of weapon actually seemed well suited for Ti'ana's style. Maybe once everyone's had a chance to calm down, she could have a word with Little Light about making some for her. "Are we actually looking for people or a pile of bones?"

"We're linked in with Ti'ana's radar dish. That should at least help us find a way to our missing hikers. For now though, keep an eye out for anything suspicious you see. If something starts moving, let us know."

"What about treasure? What if we find treasure?"

Katie shrugged. "Dunno how it works here. Back home, it's first come first serve. If you think you can use it, I'll see what I can do."

"Ooh, I hope we find something. I can't wait to see more Guardian action. Like all 'bang, bang' and 'whoosh' and…" Katie started tuning her out. Sure it was kinda cute, seeing this girl act so bubbly. But they were on a mission. They had to focus. Hopefully she'll stop talking soon.

They walked for what felt like ages, rocky room after rocky room. Between the four of them, they didn't spot a single damn thing. It was until they reached the umpteenth hallway that they noticed something different.

Pyrrha knelt down, running her hand across the ground and through the dust. As she swept it away, they saw that there were tiny hexagonal tiles covering the floor. Far too unnatural to have been formed. A hallmark of Hive structures.

Pyrrha looked at Katie. "Miss Steel? This hallway seems to be manufactured. Any ideas what could've done this?"

"A couple." She admitted. "But for now, let's hope that they've either moved on or been wiped out."

"And if they haven't?"

"Well then I hope your teachers have taught you how to make a speedy getaway."

"Right then. That's reassuring." Yang said sarcastically. "So are we looking for anything _more_ specific now?"

"Creepy dead things. Huskified people. Apart from that though, business as usual." And they now had an even bigger reason to bring this place down. Even if the Hive were long gone (and she dearly hoped they were) they could come back somehow and take up residence again. They're still not completely certain where new Hive resources were coming from. Nothing had been reported landing on the moon since they started fighting for it again. And those damn portals mean that the Hive could get here without anyone the wiser.

She read Toland's Grimoire once. Before she turned it in and let the Gunsmith build the Bad Juju. She caught glimpses of things that would've freaked her out. But one thing she _did_ remember reading was about their Hive Seeders. And if the Hive ever lived here, there must still be Seeders lying around somewhere.

"Whoa." She turned as she heard Ruby's voice. "What the heck is this weird thingy?" She was looking up at a tall structure socketed into the ground. It had a thick, bulbous and spiky top, attached to a long thin tube running into the ground. Sickly green lights lit up the stem of the structure. It was clearly _not_ natural.

A Hive Seeder Ship.

"Miss Steel?" Pyrrha asked nervously. "What exactly built this place?"

"If we lucky, you won't find out." Katie said. She tapped into her comms. "Bianca? This is definitely a Hive base. Even if they're not home, we still need to wreck this place into a crater."

"I know. But how are we gonna do that? We don't have the munitions to destroy even a single room, let along the hundreds that are probably down here."

"The Seeders. According to Toland's note…"

"You read Toland's notes? I thought they were meant to drive you insane."

"That's why I kept away from the insane and creepy parts. But as I was saying, his notes say that the Seeder's cores are highly volatile when disrupted. Enough to take out plenty of support beams and walls. Bring parts of this place crashing down around us."

"Can the Ghosts tap into them and detonate them remotely?"

"We can." Dinklebot said. "But we won't know for certain until we get started."

"Alright then. Get started. But don't finish it off until I give the word. I still want to bring these guys back home. At least to get buried."

"Gotcha." Katie signed off, and headed towards the Seeder. There had to be some way up to the higher reaches. Looking around the upper levels, she spotted several rings just out of reach of the Seeder. She turned back to the Huntresses to see them looking around warily. Guess they were getting worried too.

"I don't like this." Yang said. "These guys didn't just wander in on their own. Something must've dragged them in, right? So where is it?"

"Maybe it's shy." Katie joked. "Or maybe it's in another area. But yeah, I'm getting antsy too. Everyone keep an eye out. We need to get to those levels."

"What for?" Ruby asked.

"Well, if the guys who built this place ever decide to come back, it would be _really bad_ for us. And for Vale. We need to blow this place to hell when we leave."

"We'd better take some evidence with us though." Pyrrha said. "No doubt Ozpin would find this place ludicrous without anything to back it up."

"Ooh. New photo album on the way." Ruby squealed, pulling out her Scroll. She started pointing it at everything she could, flash blinking and lighting up the room. Rocks, hexagonal tiles, Seeder, half-buried passageway, Hive Thrall…

Katie rushed up beside her and covered the flash with her hand, almost blotting out the light. But there was enough to see that she hadn't imagined it. A thrall lay nearby, resting on its back and generally looking as dead as everything else in here. Katie raised a finger to her helmet, hoping to get the message across.

Yang looked over her shoulder, lip curling in disgust. "Eurgh. What the…?" Katie placed her hand over her mouth, silencing her. The Hive didn't seem to react. Slowly, carefully, she crept over to its side. She winced every time her foot brushed a rock, aware of how painfully loud her servos were inside her armour. But she managed to get right up to it without it waking up. Gently, she held her hand over its face. There was no breath coming from it, no signs that it was alive. But that was how it's always been with them. An undead race serving the Darkness.

She released a small wave of Solar energy from her hand. The Thrall expelled back smoke, and its skin turned dark and crumbled to nothing. There was only ash to mark that it had been there. Katie sighed, and started moving back to the others. Only to find herself staring at the open jaws of another Thrall. It moved to shriek, but she punched it again, her servos shattering its skull.

She thought for a moment that she had been fast enough. Then a high-pitched shriek filled the air. _Several_ high-pitched shrieks. Ruby, Yang and Pyrrha looked around wildly, weapons ready.

"Everyone, get to the upper levels!" Katie shouted as she took off running. Behind them, hidden doors started opening, and a wave of Hive Thralls started streaming into the room.

* * *

Ti'ana was so angry with how Bianca was acting, how she was treating the kids, that she almost didn't notice that she had some of them on her heels. She slowed down and took a deep breath, trying to work out her frustrations. That didn't work, so she punched the wall hard enough to crack it.

That made her feel a lot better.

"Sooo… Uhh… Do… you guys… argue a lot?" Jaune asked her nervously, his words drawn out. She sighed, and headed deeper into the mountain.

"About as much as other people. Most Guardians usually only team up for incredibly dangerous creatures. Usually we just work solo and chip away at anything dumb enough to get into a fight with us. Because of that, we tend to clash a lot. Some more than others." She replied.

"You don't seem all that organised then." Ren said. "Wouldn't you work better constantly in teams?"

"Not really. We focus more on a 'drop-in, drop-out' style. If you see a Guardian in trouble, you join in and help. But yeah, some things are easier with a couple of teammates."

"What's the command structure like back in your city though? Do you have clear leaders, lancers, a system of a kind?"

"Not as much as you think." She said absent-mindedly as she searched the room with her light. She could already hear Bianca telling her to stop, to not answer any more questions.

Yeah? Well screw her.

"We've got three leaders at the top, known as the Vanguards. They give us our missions, offer us rewards and stuff. But that's about it. And then there's the bounty board. Not a lot to explain about that."

"And that's it? That's all you use to structure yourselves?"

"Yep. The Vanguard's more 'point us at an enemy and watch the fireworks and body parts fly' kind of leadership. I'm sure that if we were actually at war they'd be our generals too, but we're in hit-and-run squads for the moment.

"What about your government? Don't they help out?"

"They liaise with the Vanguard when they find big problems, but for the most part they leave us alone. We're too important for them to piss us off." She looked back at him. "Seriously, what's with all the questions?"

"Yeah Ren." Nora said. "You're starting to sound really boring. Like, blah blah blah."

"It just sounds as though there is no actual structure or leadership amongst the Guardians. They just go and do whatever they want, without concern for others. That's not a good way to run any organisation."

"Hey, it works for us. There are a lot of enemies outside the city, and we're only just keeping them at bay right now. But if we keep chipping away at them, we'll win eventually." Ti'ana replied.

"But you won't be around to see that day."

"You'd be surprised." She said to herself. As far as they were aware, Guardians don't actually age. Ikora Rey, the Warlock Vanguard, she lived back in the Golden Age. She doesn't look a day over thirty, even though that was hundreds of years ago. Studies have shown that they don't need food, or water, or anything that regular people need.

They were undead, resurrected by a sleeping god.

"Be careful Nora." She said, the young lady running off ahead and standing near the ledge of a deep pit. "I don't want to see whatever's living down there."

"Ooh. You think there's a monster in here?" She asked excitedly.

"Please say no. I've had my fair share of monsters living in caves." Jaune replied.

"I'm afraid there probably is a few down there." Ti'ana replied. "Cause I somehow doubt that our hikers got lost down here for the past few days on their own."

"What kind of monster do you think it is? Beowolves? Ursa? Deathstalker?" Ren asked.

"…Hive." They looked at each other in confusion. "Don't worry if you don't recognise the name. Until now, I only thought they were native in our area."

"What are 'Hive'?"

"Creepy monsters. You'd have to talk to a Warlock to get the specifics, but us Titans know them as freaky undead creeps. They just appeared out of nowhere and started tearing us to shreds. Their favourite attack is to rush you with dozens of them and tear you apart with teeth and claws. And Traveller help you if they bring you back alive."

Jaune gulped loudly. "Ugh… m-maybe we should l-look elsewhere. Somewhere that _isn't_ a creepy deep hole in the ground."

"Relax. As long as I'm here, you'll be safe. Unless there's hundreds of them. Then you might want to start running for the entrance."

"Why didn't you guys say anything before, when we were all together?" Ren asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion. _That's what I wonder to, Bianca._ She thought bitterly.

"We weren't completely certain if it was really them. Any colony that lived too close to them was never heard from again. And let's face it, undead monsters sound pretty stupid." With Jaune and Ren satisfied for now, and more cautious, they walked around the pit's edge until they found another tunnel leading elsewhere. In here, they found a Hive Seeder left inactive, along with a few broken crates. Best case, something forced the Hive to vacate the premises. She had a quick look at her mini map and her radar. From the look of things, they were getting closer to the hikers.

And of course, because everything was going so well again, she only had two guys following her instead of three.

"Light, where the hell did she go?" She asked aloud. Ren and Jaune jumped as they realised that Nora had disappeared.

"Give me a moment… There. 24 metres away from you, behind that pillar." Little Light said in her head. Ti'ana stomped on over only to be surprised when a bright golden light was shoved into her face. Her helmet started adjusting to the brightness when it was pulled away. Nora was smiling wildly as she stood on top of a chest filled with glowing objects.

"Arr. I be finding treasure." Nora said, talking like the pirates from old Pre-Golden Age stories. "It's some kind of doohickey."

"It's a dodecahedron." Ren explained in a tired voice.

"It's an engram." Ti'ana breathed. There were scores of them in there. Blues, Greens, Purples even. But what the hell were they doing here? Engrams… They were data from the Golden Age. The forces of the Darkness collect them as trophies, but how the hell did they end up all the way out here? This didn't make any sense.

Unless some things decided to come back to Remnant. Find an easier target maybe.

Excuse me." Ti'ana said as she pushed past, crouching over the chest. Light formed himself in her palm, and she held him out so that his beam could digitise all the engrams. The others looked at her in confusion as she left an empty chest, grabbing the Exotic off Nora on the way. She tapped into the comms on her way along.

"Guys? Please tell me that there's some way to wreck this joint." She was starting to get very worried about this place now. Even though they haven't encountered any Hive yet, there were a few signs that said they weren't as gone as they were hoping.

"Starting to get scared Ti'ana?" Bianca's voice sounded in her ear. "Katie says that there's a way to make the Seeders explode. Find any you can and get them set up." Her comm crackled off.

"And a fine hello to you, Miss Pissant." Ti'ana grumbled. "Light, do you think you can do it?"

"Of course. Just get me close to the core, and I'll do all the work." He replied.

"Well, at least we can climb up the sides. Team, follow me as best as you can." She jumped up the side of the Seeder, engaging her lift ability to help her reach the next level. As she climbed even higher, she saw Nora and Ren jumping up after her. And Jaune was slowly dragging himself up the smooth sides. She rolled her eyes. Boy, that kid was gonna end up Grimm food at this rate. She _really_ hoped that his friends were helping him train. But eventually, they all made it up to the top of the Seeder. Ren and Nora helped pull Jaune up as she and Light got to work. He panted as he laid there, chest heaving in exhaustion.

"What… exactly… are we… doing… here?" He asked between breaths.

"We need to bring this place down when we leave. Whether the Hive are gone or coming back, they can't be allowed to use this place again. I'd put Vale's survival in the negatives if we leave it alone. So I'm setting this stuff to blow. You guys better catch your breaths. As soon as we get the signal, we're out of here." The machinery beeped loudly as Light finished. "There. Now we'll just keep a look out, in case there's any…" A high-pitched scream filled the air, echoing off the walls. "…trouble."

Are… Are those…?" Jaune asked, pointing a trembling finger at the masses of pale creatures swarming towards them.

"Hive? Yeah. Better bunker up people. They won't stop until they get their claws in us."

* * *

"Keep moving you two. The hikers' remains aren't much further." Bianca said, leading them deeper into the empty Hive base. Or at least, it _should_ be empty. She couldn't see Vale living alongside the Hive for this long if it weren't. That said, the mission was still clear. Find the hikers (or what's left of them), bring back proof, and get out of here with everyone still alive. As long as everything went to their vague plan, they should be able to keep working at Beacon until they find Katie's ship. And a way home.

She'd rather find the latter sooner rather than later. The longer they spend here, the more time Ti'ana or someone might have to bust their cover wide open.

Of course, with some people it might already be too late.

Weiss Schnee kept glaring at her when she thought she wasn't watching. She probably didn't buy their story for her ship having been there, and frankly she wouldn't either. She kept asking awkward questions until Bianca reminded her that they were heading into the lair of monsters, so shut up already. That at least reduced it to glares. But it was actually Blake Belladonna she was more concerned about. She was showing severe signs of sleep deprivation. Already she had to repeat herself several times for her to pay attention, and Weiss had to direct her away from hazards. If it weren't for the fact that they were already half-way, she'd order her back to the clearing. As it stood, she would be no help in a fight as she was.

Her comms stuttered. "Bianca?" Katie's voice sounded through them. "This is definitely a Hive base. Even if they're not home, we still need to wreck this place into a crater." She sounded a bit nervous, and Bianca didn't blame her. At least for the others the Hive weren't the first thing they woke up to.

"I know. But how are we gonna do that? We don't have the munitions to destroy even a single room, let along the hundreds that are probably down here." Bianca responded.

"The Seeders. According to Toland's note…"

"You read Toland's notes? I thought they were meant to drive you insane." She said, alarmed. Last she heard his Grimoire was locked away so that no one could read it. Even with all the freaky and dangerous stuff they dealt with on an almost daily basis, that was a bit worrying.

"That's why I kept away from the insane and creepy parts. But as I was saying, his notes say that the Seeder's cores are highly volatile when disrupted. Enough to take out plenty of support beams and walls. Bring parts of this place crashing down around us."

"Can the Ghosts tap into them and detonate them remotely?"

"We can." Dinklebot said. "But we won't know for certain until we get started."

"Alright then. Get started. But don't finish it off until I give the word. I still want to bring these guys back home. At least to get buried."

"Gotcha." Katie signed off, leaving Bianca to finish the hunt. Now they were on a time limit. The less time they spent down here, the less likely they'll run into something they shouldn't. She pressed on ahead, Schnee and Belladonna rushing to keep up. Her mini map and Tyrion directed her closer and closer to the signal. Her comms started up again. A broadcast to her _and_ Katie.

"Guys? Please tell me that there's some way to wreck this joint." Ti'ana's voice sounded. She too sounded a bit nervous.

Bianca smirked to herself as she tapped into the line. "Starting to get scared Ti'ana? Katie says that there's a way to make the Seeders explode. Find any you can and get them set up." She shut the comm down before Ti'ana started telling her exactly what she thought of her. It probably involved swearing or juvenile insults. They were much closer now, Tyrion's waypoint hovering over a pile at the end of the room. There was a chill to the air, and everything had gone deathly quiet. Even the girls weren't saying anything, weapons drawn and ready. Bianca crept closer and closer to the pile, expertly finding her way round rocks and brittle bones on the floor. She reached into the pile, fingers probing for anything…

And pulled out a radio, covered in blood. A loud high-pitched scream filled the air, and more joined it.

"Fireteam Tramon, the hikers are dead. This is now an escape mission. Get those Seeders primed and protect your teams." She said into her comms as she started running. A hand reached out for her foot, but she blew it off with her hand cannon. The round also smacked into her foot, but her Light allowed her to ignore it. "Move it people! This place is gonna be crawling with the natives!" She started shooting behind her as she ran, the sheer volume of Hive allowing her to still hit _something_ as she went. "Tyrion, give me directions to the others."

"Right. I mean, yes. Not right as in the directions. Got left." He said quickly, a raised path coming up. They jumped up to it, leaving the Thralls below to scream and wave their claws. A waypoint appeared on her HUD. Much better.

Except for the closed door before them.

"I can get it open. Just give me a sec." Tyrion said as he flew out of her. Schnee jumped as he flew past her.

"Ah!" She yelled. "What the hell is that thing?"

"A valuable friend that's getting this damn door open. Now cover him already." She turned around and started throwing knives into the Thralls. They turned into ash as her blades struck them through the head, her Light creating another knife to replace it. As long as she got headshots, as long as she kept killing them, she would keep having more knives to throw.

That said, she wished she had an auto rifle right now.

"Almost… done. We're through." As Tyrion said that, she was already turning and running. The Huntresses were right behind her. As were the Hive. She tossed a grenade back as she ran, the casing splitting to unleash several homing explosives out. She could hear their shrieks of pain from here. They ran through several more corridors and hallways, passing through empty rooms until they started meeting resistance. As she ran, she switched her Gunslinger class for the Bladedancer.

"Clear a path." She shouted out, pulling her machine gun from her back letting it rip. The bullets, while slower, chewed through the Hive forces like through paper. She swapped it out for her Fusion Rifle as Blake and Weiss ran in to fight them in melee. Once it was fully charged, the seven Solar particles flew through the air and shredded through the Hive, followed by more in quick succession. She noted that Weiss and her had to help Blake deal with some of the Hive, their swipes nearly taking her head off. They kept this up until there were enough dead that they could pass through without being overwhelmed. Of course, the next room had even more. Luckily though, they could see Katie guarding a Seeder. "Coming through." Bianca said grimly as she created two Arc daggers. She carved through the Hive before them with ease, their bodies turning into Arc energy. She spun around as she jumped, the energy from her daggers lashing out around her. This gave them the room to make it to the others. And there, they could start unleashing some _real_ firepower.

"So much for them not being home, am I right?" Katie joked, her Bad Juju tearing through the Hive. Now _that_ was a weapon she'd want. Whatever Toland had written in his Grimoire, it allowed Banshee to create a weapon that would never run empty as long as it got a kill. Perfect for fighting against the Hive hordes. Whereas she had to waste time reloading her weapons everytime she ran out.

"How much longer do we have to keep this up?" She asked, burying another dagger in a Thrall's head before tossing a grenade at an Acolyte. The explosion ripped through the Hive, clearing away some space.

"At least until Dinklebot's done with the Seeder. And until Ti'ana gets to us."

"She's a big girl. I bet you that she's already on her way back up…" Another explosion ripped through a doorway, Ti'ana running through and slamming her fists into the ground. Waves of Hive were torn apart, and she filled the void with her own brand of firepower. "Great. Now that we're all here, can we hurry up?"

"Nearly there." Dinklebot replied, still working furiously. "Just keep them off me for a bit longer."

"Not sure if we can. We fought our way through some Wizards and Knights on the way here. And I definitely saw an Ogre running around down there." Ti'ana said. Bianca wanted to pound her head against the wall in frustration.

"Where did they all come from? How can they have been here this whole time and let Vale live? They were certainly happy to rip apart the colony when they attacked the…" She stopped, aware that she was going to say things she should never mention. Just then, one of the walls burst open. A couple of Wizard flew in, with a few knights close behind and three Ogres at the rear. "Ti'ana?"

"On it." She replied, throwing her hands outwards. A giant purple bubble formed around them, the Hive weapons impacting uselessly against it. A cloud of darkness covered the outside, trying to find a way in. "This'll hold until we're done. Hopefully. Assuming someone isn't suffering performance issues."

"Katie made the exact same joke ages ago." Dinklebot replied in a deadpan tone. His machine started beeping loudly. "Got it. Unfortunately though, I figured it'd be best to go for a countdown. We've got five minutes to get out of here before it blows."

"Then let's tear through these guys and get moving. The Wizards are protected by a barrier. Fire attacks can deplete it faster. Everyone else, go for headshots. Especially on the Ogres."

Ruby and Jaune nodded. "Right." They said in unison. The darkness around them faded away, and they all started running. Ti'ana and Weiss started going for the Wizards, their Solar bullets and Fire Dust tearing through their shields and flesh. Bianca, Nora, Ruby and Yang went for the Ogres, their combined firepower blasting holes in them before they could overwhelm them with brute strength and eye blasts. And Katie led the charge through the knights. They didn't even stop long enough to make sure they were dead. Everyone just attacked long enough to escape. Behind them, the halls echoed with screams.

"Move, move, _move_!" Bianca shouted as they ran, occasionally shooting at any Hive that got too close or in the way. They got the spiral stairs, still followed closely by Hive. Katie moved to the rear of the group and pulled out her rocket launcher, tossing several Dust crystals onto the path. When her rocket slammed into the crystals, the resulting explosion practically tore the path apart. She got back up and ran quickly, the path behind her fragmenting.

"Well, now we know what happens when Arc meets crystals." She said to Dinklebot. When the group were at the very entrance, Little Light and Tyrion activated the programs they left in the Seeders.

The rooms inside the Hive fortress went still, before being consumed in massive explosions.

Everyone stumbled as the ground shook, dust billowing everywhere. Behind them, the mountain collapsed in on itself as everything supporting it fell apart. The many long tunnels that the Hive were famous for became their downfall. Everyone lay on the ground, tired and panting. Further away, dust exploded from the ground and filled the air.

"That. Was. _**Awesome!**_" Ruby shouted in excitement, jumping to her feet and hopping around. "Did you see that? There was an army down there! And we tore through them with guns and explosions and cool powers and robots. They didn't even stand a chance!" Bianca rolled her eyes and walked over to where Blake was lying. She seemed to be struggling to stay awake. Bianca pulled her roughly to her feet.

"When we get back to Beacon, I want you to put aside that business with the White Fang and get some damn sleep." She said crossly. Blake glared back at her, rubbing her arm.

"I don't need to do that." She replied stiffly.

"In case you didn't notice, you nearly died down there. Plenty of times. If it weren't for me and Miss Schnee, you would've been torn to shreds by the Hive. And all because you were tired to be of any help."

"I was doing fine."

Bianca took a deep, long breath. "Alright then. Then as assistant teacher, I am hereby banning you from all extracurricular activities until you start putting some damn effort into every one of your classes. You'll have plenty of time to catch up on sleep then." Blake looked at her in shock, before settling for glaring at her.

"…Fine. I quit." Blake hissed. "Who cares about school when the White Fang are up to who-knows-what? It won't matter if they win."

"And you really think you're gonna stop them by yourself? You can't even stay awake right now. I can _see_ your eyelid drooping. If you go and try to fight them, you'll get yourself killed."

"I can take care of myself." Blake replied angrily. But their argument was interrupted by a loud roaring and shaking. Out of the dust and smoke, a giant Ogre ran straight towards them. She didn't know how it survived, but it somehow did. And made its way straight for them. Blake moved to run, but her legs collapsed out from under her. She looked up at the Ogre in shock. She finally realised that she was in no condition to fight. Or even escape.

So Bianca pushed her out of the way, and the Ogre slammed into her.

Her shields blared loudly as they went into the red, the Ogre wrapping his arms around her. She struggled as she pulled one arm free, her hand cannon forming in her grip. She placed it right against its face, and fired every round she had. Blood splattered over her, and the Ogre stumbled and fell. She turned to see that a sinkhole had somehow formed behind them, most likely from the collapsing lair.

And then they were falling, and everything went black.

* * *

"…Looked painful." Katie's voice echoed.

"Eh… Had worse." She heard Ti'ana say. She opened her eyes slowly, blinking until they had time to settle. She couldn't feel her arms, her body floating and weightless. A triangular piece floated past her face.

"Could you two stop arguing and resurrect me already?" She asked, her voice electronic as it passed through Tyrion's voice box. Ti'ana tutted, but they held their hands out and she felt her body fill with Light. She centred herself as her feet landed on solid ground, before she looked around. She was in the sinkhole, now quite a distance below. Beside her was the dead Ogre, eyes still bleeding. "Right then. Hopefully that's the last one now. Let's go back to Beacon already." She went to move, but Ti'ana stopped her.

"Not so fast Bianca. You don't really think you'd survive this unscathed, did you?"

"She's right." Katie amended. "You actually died from that fall. There's no way anyone wouldn't find it suspicious that you didn't even get a scratch from that fight."

Ti'ana nodded. "Tyrion, start denting her armour. Give it a few tears, some dents, and lose a pauldron or something."

"You can't be serious." Bianca said. "I have to pretend to be invalid?"

"Not pretend. It has to be real. Broken bones and all that." Ti'ana was acting far too pleased by this.

"Isn't that…?"

"No, it isn't actually." Katie interrupted her question. "Our previous point still stands."

"Come on. You have to. It's for the mission, and our cover." Bianca gritted her teeth. Traveller, how long has been waiting for something like this?

"…Fine. Break me." She said. Her leg gave out on her, and she couldn't use her arms anymore. She was having a bit of trouble breathing now, and her head felt lopsided. "Isn't this a bit much?" She mumbled.

"No. This is what you'd look like if you survived a fall with an Ogre." Tyrion said. Ti'ana and Katie pulled her to her feet, Ti'ana's ship hovering overhead. Beside it was her own vessel, still badly dented and listing slightly. Ti'ana teleported onto her ship, while Katie and Bianca went to the other one.

Both ships sailed away, back to the safety of the city.

**There we go. The climactic battle against the Hive. I know that they usually come in waves, but I figured I'd go with more urgency and have them come practically all at once. They like to Zerg rush you, so obviously they've got a lot of Thralls. And that Ogre survived because I really wanted to have one of the Guardians get 'injured' on this mission. Give them some time off and stuff. But now I want to talk about something really important, and what helped me break through my writer's block.**

**Erhem. Today, I saw the videos and articles about Destiny: The Taken King made after the live-stream. And this game, everything about it… Is the Destiny we were waiting for! They've taken pretty much everything fans complained about in Destiny and fixed it, or made it better. As a casual player, I got very nervous about having to do group things to get cool gear and the max level. I got the game at launch day and I'm only levels 31/31/32. But now we can get to the max level through solo dailys and missions and quests. We don't have to go to the Crucible to get the marks for Faction armour now. We don't have to store all our emblems and shaders and ships. We don't need to go through all the trouble of getting Exotics we already have. Marks and Bonds and Cloaks and Ghosts actually do something now besides looking pretty and letting you know who got the collector's edition. We don't need to get Etheric Light to bring up our old gear if we like the design and want to keep it. Our vaults are even bigger now. We can have more bounties and turn them in wherever we are in the game. Our Ghosts are getting more lines, and do more things beside opening doors. And we can see our characters faces on our inventory screens and change which weapon we have on display at the Tower.**

**I could go on and on, but I think I've proven my point. The Taken King is the perfect example of how a company can take a good game… and make it a **_**great**_** game.**

**I am going to work all that into this story somehow.**

**PS. Sorry for repeating about the bit with the Vanguard. I forgot that I already had Ozpin ask about it.**


	6. Memories and Solitude

**The more I see about the Taken King, the more excited I am about getting it. Thank God it's less than two weeks away now. I'm getting everything on my save ready for when it comes. Full Glimmer amount, as many Vanguard Marks as I can (I imagine that a lot of other people are already at 200 for each Guardian), and filling up my rep to a new level. All I need to do now is get as many 100 Rep bounties as I can and fill them up but not turn them in. But the best thing I can't wait for? (apart from having your emblems, shaders, and ships being listed and stored in kiosks and not in your vault. **_**And**_** getting removed from the RNG list. Got three of the same ship already, and I'm running out of room for Emblems.) Swords. We. Have. Swords. Badass. RWBY Badass.**

**I'll stop gushing now and let you enjoy the story. This chapter's a bit of a breather, flashback, equipment upgrade and seeing how people react to the Hive presence. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Memories and Solitude**

Katie tried her best to clean the oil from her gloves, but it was a fool's errand. They were completely stained, along with her robes. Only a Ghost could hope to remove it now. The only good thing about this was that the ship was finally repaired. It took practically all night and most of the morning, but it now looked like a proper spaceship rather than a flying heap of junk. And given that it seemed they weren't the only invaders to arrive here, they were going to need both ships to keep up.

Two days since they found the Hive base here on Remnant. Two days since they blew the whole thing to Hell, the explosion and quakes felt even from Vale. Two days since they were debriefed, and Ozpin had the Vale army scout the area for any signs of Hive activity. And two days since there was any sign of them. She could actually believe that they were all gone. A relief. The Hive have made it abundantly clear over the centuries that they don't take humans or neighbours well.

And two days since they dodged around some really awkward questions…

* * *

"_Undead… Monsters?" Ozpin said aloud, eyebrows in danger of getting lost in his fringe. "Undead monsters? You seriously encountered undead on Remnant?" He looked at the two of them, as though he was trying to determine if they were lying to him and how._

"_I know it sounds completely insane, but it's true. Or at least as true as we can understand." Katie argued back. "They might have some different form of life, but compared to you and… me, they're pretty much undead Sir." Ozpin looked back at his scroll, flipping through the photos Ruby had taken before everything went to hell._

"_Perhaps. But… I don't mean to diminish your Warlocks' understanding of these things, but saying that they're undead just sounds completely…"_

"_Insane?" Ti'ana offered. Ozpin nodded. "Well if it makes you feel any better, just pretend that they _aren't_ undead."_

"_Right. Of course. Whether they're alive or 'differently alive' doesn't change the fact that they sound like a likely threat to Vale's safety. Good job on destroying their base, but if what you say is true then I'd like to send in the National Guard to comb over the area. Just in case."_

"_Good call. We don't actually know how far or how deep those tunnels of theirs go. Don't want them to spring up in some other part of Vale."_

"_Quite. Katie, I'll need you to prepare a summary of the Hive and their preferred attack plans as soon as possible. We can't send those men in without telling them everything about what they're up against."_

"_Yes sir." Katie bottled up a sigh of resignation. Great. Now she was gonna have to go over everything they had on the Hive and figure out what cannot be included. "I'll have it done by the end of the day."_

"_Good." Ozpin scrolled through the mission report they had written, reading everything over for a second time. "How is Miss Gaea?" He asked._

_Katie shrugged. "The doctor said she has over a dozen broken bones. She'll need to be kept in a cast and out of a fight for at least a couple of months. Maybe a bit less if her Aura is strong enough. She's a bit antsy and moody, but at least she'll live."_

"_Good. Many other Hunters have been killed by similar things. I suppose a couple of months of bedrest is an adequate price to pay for survival. And she managed to save a student." He looked at the scroll again. "What exactly are your feelings on Teams RWBY AND JNPR after their run in with the Hive?"_

"_They held out alright." Ti'ana answered. "Not many non-Guardians could've walked away from that alive. Hell, plenty of new Guardians end up getting pretty mashed up after going through something like that. But in all honesty I feel that Jaune Arc might be the weak link here. Everyone else seems to have a melee and a ranged weapon. But all he's really got is his shield, which isn't all that helpful when you've got a dozen monsters bearing down on you."_

"_True. But he came up with the plan that killed a rather dangerous Death Stalker. It's my hope that being in a position of leadership will help him overcome his shortcomings and become a better Hunter."_

"_Sir?" Katie interrupted. "Bianca told me something on the way back to Beacon. About Miss Belladonna."_

_Ozpin nodded. "Several of her teachers have also noted that she seems to be distracted in class. Her grades were surely dropping over the past week or so."_

"_Well… I… are you perhaps aware of __**what**__ she is?"_

_Ozpin looked at her over the rim of his glasses. "Miss Steel, I do hope you aren't suggesting that I wouldn't notice a Faunus trying to sneak in as a human. But she isn't the first Faunus to try and 'blend in', nor the last. And it's not up to the faculty to reveal her secret."_

"_I know sir. But while we were watching over the team like you asked, we followed her to a White Fang recruiting station. She had gone there to spy on them, and I think that what she saw or heard there has shaken her up a lot."_

_He nodded. "Understandable. Until recently, White Fang was an organisation set up to peacefully create unions between Faunus and Humans. But then they had a change in leadership, and well…"_

"_They became a terrorist organisation."_

"_Precisely." He said solemnly. "Many Faunus I've spoken to see it as important that they stop any and all White Fang attacks if they learn about them. Even when it would be detrimental to their own well-being. I'll have a talk to her about it. Remind her that there are others who can help."_

"_Right." She wasn't entirely comfortable with revealing Blake's secrets. But her determination to stop the White Fang almost got her killed on a completely unrelated mission._

_It was for the best._

* * *

She shook the haze from her head as her processors focused on the present. She hated remembering things. Many people criticised her for always acting in the now instead of making long term plans like other Warlocks. But she always ignored them. Few of them truly understood her reasons.

There were plenty of Guardians raised from the dead who wanted to ignore their past. Maybe they feel that it was a bad one. Maybe they don't consider it relevant. They might even see it as a way to 'reimagine themselves'. But most Guardians who weren't born in the City Age were always looking for clues, as a form of closure. Exos were usually even more determined to remember, given how no one knew all that much about them. Most forms of data about them had been lost in the Collapse. Sure there wasn't the much about the Awoken either, but they still had stories out in The Reef. They just don't want to share. But Exos were a living mystery. Why are they so lifelike? What was their purpose before the Collapse? Even to this day, they only had enough information to repair Exos. Never enough to build another. The most prevalent theories were that the Exo were mere robots, similar to Frames, that eventually were upgraded to the point of self-awareness and logical thinking. Essentially, they evolved in true AIs. The other theory was that they were once humans, who whether through illness or injury, had their minds downloaded or copied into mechanical bodies.

Katie wasn't certain which of those might be true, or either of them. But she did know the same thing everyone else was practically aware of these days.

The Exos had to live and fight during the Dark Ages.

No Exos actually remembered that time in full detail. Or at least they weren't willing to share. According to Lakshmi-2 of the Future War Cult, it was a time of sorrow and suffering and a thousand kings. She overheard other Warlocks discussing it, about how they almost became like the Fallen. So obviously it wasn't going to be happy fun time. But she found mention of an Exo who had been highly active in those days. Thanos-42, a retired soldier living down in Residential District 56. It didn't mention anything about what he did back then. But she had wanted to see if he could remember anything. When she had approached him, he was all too willing to help out. They met over several weeks, trying different means of awakening his memories. One day, they started making a breakthrough. She then got a call from Rey, and had to go out hunting. They promised to meet up the next day and continue.

When she arrived, the police had set themselves up in his apartment. Oil glistened on everything. According to the reports, neighbours heard him making a terrible sound late last night. When they went to see what it was, they heard him yelling. About how there were so many bodies, all hanging from hooks. He shouted that he kept chopping and chopping until everyone no longer argued with the king. And then he sliced his head open and ripped out his processor. A week later, another Warlock found mention of him again. He had been the head executioner of King Leon, a brutal warlord who beheaded everyone who didn't bend the knee to him.

She threw away all her notes about digging up memories. Perhaps it was better that she knew nothing about herself. And now she worried that remembering many things, especially old things, would possibly awaken them. Better to be a hedonist than a raving machine.

Burdened by these thoughts, she pushed open the door to their quarters and was almost startled. Bianca's bed was empty. Instead, she was standing by the window, looking down at the students.

"You're supposed to be in bed." Katie said, quickly pushing the door shut behind her. "What if someone saw you standing up and walking?"

"I can't help it. I'm going stir crazy here." Bianca replied curtly. Her body was almost completely covered in bandages and casts, making her movements jerky and stiff. "I'm sick of being treated like a freaking invalid, and it's only been a couple of days. There's no way I can handle two months."

"Well you're gonna have to. _You're_ the one who's always on about the mission, about not blowing our cover. If Ti'ana found out that you want to arouse suspicion like this, she'll never let you hear the end of this." She grabbed her by the arm and firmly dragged her back to the bed. "Besides, there's not much for you to even _do_. Not while Tyrion's busy decrypting the engrams." They looked over at the Ghost as he hovered over the desk, parts spinning and Light flashing. Beside him were several weapons made from the Engrams he had already decoded. "I never thought I'd actually say this, but I wish that Master Rahool was here right now. This is taking forever."

"I can still hear you, you know." Tyrion replied, barely looking away from the lattice frame he was creating. It resembled some leggings of a kind.

"In that case, what's the haul so far?"

"Two Fusion Rifles, one Arc 'Trolley Problem' and one Void 'PLUG ONE.1'. One Arc 'Two To The Morgue' shotgun. One 'LDR 5001' Arc Sniper Rifle. An 'Astrolord Hood' to go with your Heart of the Praxic Fire. A 'Dustwalker' chest armour for Bianca…" The leggings were finally constructed, dropping onto the pile below them. "And 'Jackknife 1.3' for Bianca again."

Katie whistled. "Now that's a pretty big haul. I know of at least three fireteams willing to kill to get their hands on stuff like that."

"What about Nora Valkyrie?" Bianca asked. "According to Ti'ana's files she was the one who discovered the engrams."

"We gave Ozpin the greens and the blues, and we told him that we lost the others on the way back up. Hopefully he'll believe us."

"Good call. Even if they can decrypt them, we're not losing anything valuable." She squirmed, itching somewhere uncomfortable. "How my ship?"

"Well Holiday isn't going to be awe of our work. But it's fixed and ready for flight."

"Good. We're gonna need it."

"You think there might be more trouble?"

"I'm just worried. According to local history, the Traveller and the Darkness visited this world ages ago. Long enough that they both have slipped from memory. And yet there were engrams in a Hive base. What if we weren't the only things that came through? Or what if the forces of Darkness have found their own way to this world?"

Katie thought deeply. "If they have, it could be our ticket back home."

"Exactly. We wait for word of strange things going on, check it out, and if it's the Darkness we can use it to find a way home. And then we'll close it from our side."

"And if we can't?"

"We'll turn it over to the Vanguard. They can hand it to Lord Shaxx or something."

"Good plan." Dinklebot appeared and ran his beams over her body, removing all traces of the oil. "But that's probably not going to be for a while, if at all. The Hive might just be a fluke. So I'm gonna head to library and see if I can find any legends that match up to the Vex. It's their fault we're here in the first place; they've got to have something that can get us back. And as the Darkness's premier agents, they've probably been here at some point. In the meantime…"

"I know, I know. Stay in my bed." Bianca sighed, flopping back against the pillows. "In that case, bring something smothered in chocolate and sugar. I need a treat."

"Will do, sweet tooth." Katie moved to open the door, and almost walked into Blake. They both backed away in surprise, Blake looking at her feet nervously.

"Ah… Miss Steel. Is uh… Is Miss Gaea alright?" She said haltingly. Katie noticed that the bags under her eyes were deeper than before. "I overheard that she's… she's uh…"

"She's in a cast." Katie replied. She leaned back in to see that Tyrion had disappeared, the gear he already deciphered still there. "Doctor said that she'll be in it for a while."

"Is she… alright to talk to?" Blake was practically whispering now. Katie looked over at Bianca, who was rolling her eyes at this. But she beckoned with her hand.

"Apparently so." Katie moved out of the way so that Blake could get in. "I'll leave you two to talk. Don't agitate her though. Doctor's orders." That, and she might forget that she's practically paralysed if she got angry. As she closed the door behind her, the silence in the room was practically overwhelming. She knew things were weird when she could somehow taste blue. She's never even _eaten_ anything that would taste like that. Must be a malfunction or something.

She just hoped that Belladonna was gonna leave that room in one piece.

* * *

Bianca had a horrible itch in the middle of her back, and she felt a spring jabbing her in the leg. And she couldn't even move because as far as anyone knew, she was almost completely immobilized from her injuries. She was almost tempted to kick Belladonna out of the room just so she could deal with those two problems.

But she was standing there so nervously, eyes slightly red from crying. It made her remember when Sam had been young, when a bit of rough-housing had ended with her accidently breaking a student's leg. She had held her close and whispered into her ear while they waited in the principal's office, telling her that everything was alright.

They both were silent long enough that she knew Belladonna wasn't going to speak without prompting.

"Well? What do you want to talk about?" Bianca asked. Blake flinched at her words, as though they were bullets flying at her. She was fidgeting now, fingers twirling over and over again.

"…I…I'm…I'm…" She kept stuttering. Eventually, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "I'm sorry about the… thing."

"Thing?" She replied, confused before understanding dawned on her. "You mean the Ogre? The big monster that pushed me off the cliff?"

"Yes. I should've been more alert. I should've been faster." Blake was practically whispering now.

Bianca nodded. "Yeah. You should've." Blake winced at her words. "If you hadn't been wearing yourself out like you have chasing after the White Fang, none of this would've happened. You seem to forget that you're in a team. Your teammates rely on you for help. And there's no way letting them down is for a greater purpose. You can tell yourself whatever you want to try and convince yourself otherwise, but deep down you'll always know that you're wrong."

"Right." Tears were running down her face. "I'm sorry that I argued with you. You were right. My team doesn't deserve me." Bianca closed her eyes and cursed to herself. She opened them to see Blake opening the door.

"Wait." She said, Blake stopping immediately. Bianca beckoned with her free hand. "Come over here." Blake looked at her warily, before closing the door and sitting down on the covers. "I shouldn't have been so harsh with you. Both before and now. I'm only trying to help you." She bit her lip as she made a decision. She knew that Ti'ana was going to rub it in her face if she ever heard about this, but she had to say it. "I'm going to let you know something important. But you have to keep it a secret. From everyone."

"I… Yes." Blake replied, nodding her head. The tears had stopped now at least.

"I was exactly like you once. When I became a Guardian, I had lost all my memories. My name was the only thing I remembered about myself. I was alright with that at first. We had more important things to worry about that finding out about some lost girl. But while we were on a mission, we came across a dead colony claimed by our enemies. And while we were there, my memories came back to me. I remembered that I had a family. I had friends. We were living a comfortable life and everything was fine. Then we came under attack. We were overwhelmed, and even the Guardians at the time weren't able to hold them back. I was the only one of my family to make it out alive… I saw my daughter killed before my eyes. She had reached us just when the ship was leaving. And we were surrounded by her killers." She brushed away a tear of her own. "I left my team to exact vengeance for her. I swore that I would kill every last one of those monsters for what they did. We were supposed to make a covert attack on a key target, but I didn't care. While Ti'ana and Katie tried to continue the mission without me, I drew all of them to our location. So I could kill them all."

"Ti'ana and Katie were furious. Our target wasn't dying, and we were about to be swarmed by the monsters. And I didn't care. I just wanted to kill as many of them as possible. I was stabbing them over and over, wasting shots by firing wildly… and the others were nearly dying. It wasn't until I was practically the last person standing and our target was about to kill Ti'ana that I managed to come back to my senses. Just as I ran out of ammo and energy. It was a complete miracle that we managed to outlast them. And I was banished from the fireteam for a time. The only way I was allowed back in was when I promised to _never_ lose focus like that again."

"So… You're saying…"

"I'm saying that I know what happens when you focus on something to the point of nearly destroying yourself. I act harsh on you…" She pulled her legs out of bed and stood to her full height. "…because I know that you won't be able to come out the other side like I did."

Blake looked at her in shock and surprise. "B-But… But the doctor said that…"

"I _know_ what he said. Two months, maybe less if I've got a strong Aura. But Guardians are made of sterner stuff. We have to be to survive everything we put ourselves through. I pushed you out of the way of the Ogre because I knew that I'd survive a fight with it." She sat back down next to her, one bandaged arm on her shoulder. "Now, we both know that you're practically falling asleep on your feet. And I'm willing to be that right now, Even Mr Arc could beat you with his hands tied behind him back." That made Blake smile, if only a little bit. "So, I'm ordering you to go and get some rest. You're not the only one working to stop the White Fang. You can afford to spread the work around to others."

Blake sighed, before standing back up. "You're right. I kept telling myself that I _had_ to stop the White Fang. That as a Faunus I'm the only person who really understood the threat they could pose."

Understanding dawned on Bianca again. "You used to be one of them." She said.

"I thought we were the good guys. A band of rebels fighting back against human cruelty. But I never signed on for all the violence and killing they do. I didn't sign on to fight a war."

Bianca nodded. "And when White Fang finally topples, humans will have even more a reason to hate Faunus."

"Exactly. I thought that it was my responsibility to stop them before they succeed with whatever it is they're doing. But… But I guess it isn't."

"You're just one person Blake. You can't fight an army on your own. Do your team know about this?"

"Yes. They offered to help."

"Then let them. Take some time off and spread the weight on your shoulders. Yeah, they're probably working hard and need to be stopped as soon as possible. But it won't help if you push yourself to the bone trying to match them." Blake nodded. "Now hurry up and go to bed. You're about to fall over on me you're so tired."

"I… Yes." Blake wobbled over to the door. "So, you're not upset with me? About your injury?"

Bianca shrugged. "I'm healed now, aren't I? Don't let it happen again, and we're square." Blake nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her. Bianca sighed and flopped back on the bed. Katie was going to kill her for this. She was the biggest hypocrite on the planet now.

"Well that could've gone worse." Tyrion said as he floated out of her body, eye flashing as he started creating a lattice frame. "You'd best hope she doesn't blab about this to anyone."

"Yeah well, I've probably got a few hours before that happens. Did you see her when she came in?"

"My scans showed that she was suffering severe sleep deprivation. I'm actually surprised her body hasn't shut down on her yet."

Bianca nodded in agreement. She was used to Guardians going days without sleep. They didn't actually need it, much like they didn't need anything else. But a normal girl? _That's_ unexpected. "You almost done over there?" She asked Tyrion.

"Pretty much. Got this last piece to construct. You'll actually find it quite useful." He floated over to her, the frame in front of him, being covered in plating and electronics, before dropping it in her lap. She picked it up and examined it closely. It resembled a bird of some kind, with a beak hanging down to fit in over the mouth area. It was a golden colour with white sides and red lines, and two rebreathers attached to the lower jaw. "It's called the Celestial Nighthawk."

"Nice name. What's it do?"

"That's the best part. By using an algorithm that links up with your Golden Gun, it can tap into its full power for a single, piercing shot. I calculate it to be at least six times stronger than your normal Golden Gun shots."

"One shot, but six times the damage? That'll be good for those elite targets."

"Did I also mention that it accesses the Keyhole ability too?"

"Seriously? Now it's looking even more useful." Tyrion floated back towards her, lifting the helmet out of her hands. A holo-screen formed around it, listing off its loaded abilities and the boost it can give to her Light for the usage of her abilities. She smiled. This thing can half the amount of time it takes to power up her Super naturally. A good combo for something this dangerous.

She always did wonder what she'd look like with a badass bird of prey motif.

* * *

"Ti'ana? Advice wants to talk to you about something." Little Light said to her. She was currently sitting outside on the roof of the dorms, her helmet off and letting her face be awash with sunlight.

"Let hear what he wants then." She replied, materialising the machine gun and setting it next to her. "What you after Advice?"

"It's been over a couple of weeks since my last date." He said. "I figured it'd be nice to have a good time with Crescent again."

She looked at the gun, eyebrow raised. "You already saw her in action back at the Hive base. And you want to see her again already?"

"I spent most of that fight strapped to your back and looking at the ground. I need more time with her. Alone."

Ti'ana snorted. "Alone? And how are you gonna get around with a chaperone?" She sighed as she grabbed her helmet. "Alright. I suppose you did some primo work against the Hive."

"Thanks Ti'ana. You're the best wingwoman a gun could ask for." She scooped him up and slotted him against her back, before dropping down from the roof. The nearby students looked at her funny as she floated down to them.

"And what excuse are you going to use this time?" Light asked her as he brought up a waypoint towards Ruby. "Another training session perhaps?"

"Nope. I figured that I'll just tell her the truth." She replied.

"The truth. The truth about how you have an incredibly advanced AI based within your gun that has the hots for her own weapon." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey, she's friends with a robot girl. I _think_ she can accept a love-struck AI."

"Well, as long as word of this doesn't get back to Bianca. She won't like it that much."

"Yeah well, what's she gonna do about it? She's stuck in our room for at least a month." The waypoint led her to the classrooms, where Ruby was exiting a lesson about Grimm behaviour. She looked up as Ti'ana waved at her, a smile on her face. She quickly pushed her way through the crowd to Ti'ana's side.

"Hey Ti'ana. I mean, Miss Aqua." Ruby said to her. "What do you want to see me about? Is this about the mission in the mountain?"

"No. I just want you to meet a friend of mine. But he's a little shy, so we'll need to get away from the crowds." Ti'ana whispered to her. Ruby's face paled in nervousness.

"Well… I think that Professor Oobleck's classroom is free right now." She said nervously.

"Good enough." Ti'ana replied, heading off, Ruby right behind her. They entered the empty classroom and closed the door behind them. Then, Ti'ana moved to stand behind the desk. "Ruby. I'd like you to meet a good friend of mine and a helpful companion. Say hello to Super Good Advice." She pulled him off her back with a flourish, depositing him on the desk. Ruby's eyes lit up in excitement.

"Wow." She breathed, walking around the desk and admiring him closely. "This thing's so big. A tri-barrelled frame lets this put out 10-or-so bullets per second." She ran her hand over the blue ammo cartridge. "And I'd estimate that this bad boy can handle at least 50-odd rounds per magazine." She looked closely at the scope on the top, checking it from all angles. "And with this, you could get accurate shots on anything with 30 feet. Assuming that the recoil doesn't throw you off. This weapon can practically shred through anything that gets in its way." She leaned in and looked closer at a flame symbol marked onto the side. "What's this thing mean?"

"Advanced weapons are assigned one of three elements to bolster their firepower." She explained. "That symbol means that Advice is a solar-based weapon, allowing it to carve through solar shields."

"Like the Hive? You said that their barriers are weak against fire."

She nodded. "The same element can carve through a barrier like a hot knife. But it also means that it's less effective against a different barrier. You can still do some damage with it…"

"But it'll take longer than if you used a different element." Ruby guessed. "How do you change elements?"

"You can't. Once a gun's assigned an element, it's stuck like that. A bit like how you can't change something from 10 calibre to 15 whenever you like."

"Oh." Ruby replied, understanding. "So Guardians have to switch weapons entirely?"

"Pretty much. It's why we like having up to date intel about a site. Not much good going into a battle with Arc weapons while everyone uses solar shields." Ruby nodded in agreement. "But there's also another neat trick that Advice can do." She knocked on the top of the gun. "Advice, say hello already."

"Hello Miss Rose. I am the onboard Artificial Intelligence of the Super Good Advice Heavy Machine Gun. A pleasure to meet you." Ruby jumped as his voice sounded from the gun frame.

"Did… Did it just…?" She started asking.

"Yes. I did speak." He replied. Ruby looked at him completely dumbstruck, before shrugging her shoulders.

"Oh. Then hello to you Mr Advice." She leaned back in. "How come you're in there?"

"It's actually quite simple really." He paused. "Ok, that's actually a lie. It's rather complicated. But the simple way to explain it is that all bullets loaded into my magazine get converted into smart rounds capable of relaying their trajectory and position to me after being fired. If I register that they miss a target, I can cause them to be recalled directly back into my magazine, ready for use again. Such a complicated process requires an AI to work properly."

"You…? You can…?" She started squealing. "That is so totally awesome! Are there more of you like that?"

"Sadly no, I'm afraid. As far as I can tell, the subsystems used in my creation were originally Golden Age tech, named after the age that the Traveller first bolstered us. The odds of finding working equipment from that age is very unlikely."

"And the reason I wanted to introduce him to you is because he's got the hots for Crescent Rose." Ti'ana interrupted the conversation.

"Crescent?" She looked at the gun attached to her waist. "You… do realise that she's not actually sentient."

"This coming from a species that enjoys looking at nude statues and pictures of other humans." He retorted. "I don't recall any rule that says that one cannot love a weapon for their firepower and frame, thank you very much."

"Well, I guess you've got me there." Ruby conceded.

"So, can I go on a date with her then?" Advice asked. Ruby thought it over for a few seconds before nodding. "Great. I've already got an itinerary all set up for us. Ti'ana can handle the details." Ti'ana started laughing to herself, shaking her head as she grabbed Advice from the desk. "Also, if you could _please_ promise not to mention me to anyone, that'd be swell. I don't really want to get dismantled so people could find out how I work."

Ruby nodded. "'The Nevermore that laid the golden egg'. Don't worry, my lips are sealed." As she said that, Ti'ana brought up her HUD. On one side of the screen was a list of things and places Advice apparently wanted to go and do. Fortunately, most of them were easy to do and didn't appear weird in any way.

"Let's go chaperoning." Ruby said excitedly, fist raised to the sky.

* * *

Katie groaned as she closed yet _another_ dead end on legends. This was the… twelfth book that she's looked at that didn't have anything like what she was looking for. Any mention she found related to the Darkness or the Traveller was barely legible or informative, and there wasn't a single bit about anything like the Vex. Granted, she knew that information loss was likely to happen. They knew hardly anything about the Golden Age or the Collapse, and even then what little they had was from people who had actually lived during those times. But here on Remnant, there was practically nothing.

Ok. Best review what she _had_ found out. Apparently, the Remnants met the Traveller similarly to how Earth did. They were just minding their business when one day He just showed up out of nowhere. People started worshipping Him as a god, and He started gifting them with great power and technological advances. They had gone from barely being in an industrial age to space age in less than a year.

But then the Darkness found them, and started making his own plans.

He took normal animals from Remnant and started altering them, twisting them into powerful, hate-filled monsters that sought only to destroy humans. The Grimm ended up overwhelming humanity, crushing settlement after settlement. And the Traveller ran, taking the Darkness with Him as he left. But before he did, he left Remnant a gift. He rained His Light down upon the world, and this Light turned into Dust. And over time, the Light seeped into human bloodlines until they were all able to generate abilities from it with nothing more than their bodies. With their Auras and Dust, they managed to fight back against the Grimm, claiming back their cities and their lands. Now both sides were stuck in a stalemate, and humanity had only just gotten close to where they were before.

And nowhere did she find any reference to The Fallen, or the Hive, or even the Vex. As far as she could tell, the Darkness came with no one at his side.

_No. There has to be something. The Vex, or the Darkness, or whatever that Dark Heart was sent us here in the first place. There __**had**__ to be some way to get back._ She flipped open the next book, determined to find _something_ but knowing that it was likely another dead end. _And as we pushed back against the Grimm, we found that they were altering the colonies that they had claimed. Flesh was ripped from bone and bone was broken in twain. And the walls were being covered in a strange bronze metallic crystal, growing as straight sheets and exhibiting strange powers…_

Wait.

She read that part over again, worried that her eyes were playing a tricks on her. _…A strange bronze metallic crystal, growing as straight sheets and exhibiting strange powers…_ She wasn't sure how it was formed, but that sounded a _lot_ like what Vex structures look like. She read through every line after that, hoping it would reveal more. _…The Grimm seem to treat it as some form of worship, bowing before it and offering scraps of flesh to the walls. In the centre of the colony was a tall circular structure, resembling a bronze plate attached to circular wire frames. While they were busy, we used our stealth and skills and weapons to slay them all. We were weakened after the heavy fight, and Gregory was killed by an Ursa, but we managed to slay them all._

_Then, the structure glowed with light…_

It cut off right there, a note remarking that the rest of the pages had suffered from water damage, and were too soaked to reveal anything else. But it was a start. She actually found reference to the Vex. And better yet, it even said where exactly the legend had come from.

She closed the book with a satisfied thump, the sound echoing off the walls.

"Who's there?" Someone asked nervously, their footsteps getting closer. Right. This place was heavily restricted. Technically, she wasn't supposed to be here at all. But having a Ghost could be useful for missions like this. She grabbed her gun and placed the barrel below her chin, blowing a hole through her head. She heard the voice gasp at the loud gunfire, and then she was inside Dinklebot. A woman came stumbling to her desk, finding only piles of books. And a Ghost flew through the ventilation to freedom.

She hoped that Bianca wouldn't mind her borrowing her ship for a small trip.

* * *

Ironwood shook his head as he paced Ozpin's office. "They're infiltrating our most secure areas. The restricted section of Vale's library no less." He hissed. Ozpin looked up from the piles of book and gave him a look.

"I hardly think that the Vale Library counts as our most secure area James." He replied coolly.

"You know what I mean. I've reviewed all the CCTV footage and checked all the alarms. Nothing. No signs of forced entry, no sneaking in. She just appeared inside the restricted section, and got out without the receptionist ever seeing her. The sound of a gunshot was her only clue that she wasn't alone."

"I'm actually rather curious about that. Why would we be shooting anything in the first place? And how come the bullet holes are in the roof?"

"I don't know." Ironwood gave a frustrated sigh. "Every time they do anything, we keep learning about just how much we don't know about these Guardians." He looked up, a glint of determination in his eyes. "I'm bringing them in for questioning."

"No James. Not yet. We still don't have the full picture." Ozpin scolded him.

"As strange as this may sound, I agree with James." Glynda said from her little corner. "Everything we've learnt about them so far suggests that they are very dangerous and skilled. Certainly not the kind of people I trust around our students without a _full_ background check."

"Thank you Glynda." Ironwood said in relief.

"If they have been able to infiltrate facilities so easily and without detection, then why have they only attacked key buildings once?" Ozpin argued. "They could use that ability to find out about our current state of readiness; plans of attack and defence; secret weapons; Dust mining operations. But instead, they're looking into _very_ old legends." He held a hand to chin in contemplation. "It just doesn't make sense. Yet."

"What exactly are these books about? They might give us a clue as to their motives." Ironwood asked.

"My thoughts too. As far as I can tell, it's mainly about legends at least a thousand years or older. Certainly nothing current. But I've noticed that there _is_ a pattern to these tomes. The ones here…" He waved a hand at the pile to his left, "Are all about the legends of the Titanomachy."

"You mean the War between the Star and the Shadow." Glynda noted. "The legends associated with the birth of the Grimm." She shook her head. "I thought that scientists disproved those legends long ago."

"And yet they haven't been able to find an alternative answer about where the Grimm came from. We have actual records that state that they haven't always existed. So logically, they had to come from somewhere. And recent events tell us that we aren't alone in the universe." He looked at the book in his hands again.

Ironwood sighed. "Fine. I'll ask. What exactly about that book makes it so important that you have to read it now?"

"It was the only book in the center of the desk. Logically speaking, it had to be the last one the Guardian read before she had to leave. I'm curious as to what she might've found in it."

"And?"

"It appears that the only legend here that involves the Grimm is from Atlas. The Demeter settlement, according to this."

"Ah. The Legend of the Cyclops. The supposed 'gods of the Grimm'." Ozpin looked up at him, eyebrow raised. "Alright. I suppose I can't laugh it off like I used to, seeing as how we aren't alone anymore. But it still sounds unbelievable."

"I'm not familiar with that legend." Glynda said. "What exactly happened in Demeter?"

Ironwood waved a hand. "A Hunter team went to liberate the colony from the clutches of the Grimm, and found them worshipping an idol shaped like a bronze disc. The team killed the Grimm, the idol created a pool of light, and metal men with one eye came storming out and throwing purple energy around. I'm not quite certain what the Guardians would be so interested in it for though."

"…" Ozpin sat there thinking. "General, how goes the recon of the Hive base?" He suddenly asked.

"Acceptable, for the moment." Ironwood replied. "The whole mountain's collapsed in on itself, burying everything. We've found a lot of rubble, a lot of broken metal, and plenty of ash. But we haven't seen a single sign of Hive. Hell, we've even checked everywhere people said they saw a large cloud of dust billowing from." He shook his head. "Hard to believe that it was so close to Vale. Nevertheless, I'll have an official report ready tonight. But why do you ask about that?"

"We have no records of any kind about these 'Hive'. Nothing in legends resembling undead. Oh, we have all the usual tales, but they don't match up with the report Katie prepared for me." He tapped at his scroll. "So therefore they're obviously enemies of the Guardians."

"So, their presence here drew the Hive to Vale."

"Perhaps." Ozpin admitted. "But it might not have. Remember my request for carbon dating of any fragments from the base? Your men sent me back a report today."

"I remember. They calculated it to be within a thousand years."

"Around the same time the Grimm arrived." He leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled. "Here's a theory I'm working with, based on everything we know right now. It's my belief that the Star and the Traveller are both the same entity. It arrived on Remnant to help us out, and it came to their world to help _them_ out. The Guardians are likely its soldiers and agents, as you said earlier. But then the Shadow found the Star, and brought along its own agents."

"The Hive." Ironwood realised.

"Exactly. Now, while the Shadow creates the Grimm, the Hive are preparing a forward base to help attack the Star. But instead, it runs away. Determined to not lose the Star, the Shadow grabs all its men and chases after it, leaving us with the Grimm."

"So you think the Star ran to save us."

"I do. I've been listening to Miss Aqua's chats with Ruby Rose. She told her how their enemy, the Darkness, reduced them to one city. How it's now in a coma, having nearly killed itself fighting back."

"A brilliant theory Ozpin. But there are still some unanswered questions in it. Why is this Shadow, this Darkness seeking out the Traveller? Why does it attack worlds under its protection? And why are the Guardians here on Remnant?"

"I don't know." Ozpin admitted. "But what I _do_ know is that so far, apart from the attack on the CCT, they haven't done anything that marks them as an enemy of Remnant. I know what you want to do James, but until they prove themselves to be our enemy I cannot allow you to interrogate potential allies."

Ironwood stared at him for several moments, a storm of emotions trying to express themselves. Eventually though, he glowered and turned away. He closed to the door heavily on his way out.

_That could've gone better._ Ozpin thought to himself. Glynda apparently felt the same way.

"There's only so long you can stay passive and reactive around the Guardians." She said as she walked over to his side. "Are we really going to risk our students just to see whether or not they are the enemy?"

"I don't know Glynda." He admitted. "But my gut tells me that they're not our enemies. Not unless we do anything to force them to change their minds."

"Like perhaps capturing them and interrogating them?"

"Exactly."

"In that case, someone might need to keep an eye on James. For his sake."

* * *

Ti'ana and Ruby were sitting on a grassy cliff overlooking a waterfall at the edge of the city limits. It was a favoured place for couples, which was probably why Advice had chosen it. Right now though, the two of them were laughing at him.

"That must've been pretty embarrassing, losing to Crescent like that." Ruby chuckled. They had just been to a shooting gallery, and Ruby and Crescent had cleaned up in there.

"It's not my fault. I was suffering from user error." Advice tried to explain away his failings. And apparently shift the blame.

"Oh, so it's my fault is it?" Ti'ana said. "I don't recall you complaining when I rescued you from that Cabal cache. Or when we held our ground against the Hive. Or that time we had to…"

"Ok, ok. I get it. Can we just drop it already?" They both stifled their laughter as best as they could, and placed their guns so that they were leaning against each other. Then they both leaned back and admired the view and the sound of rushing water.

"This is exactly what I had pictured the life of a Guardian to be like." Ti'ana said. "Kicking ass, taking names, and then relaxing with friends."

Ruby looked at her, smiling. "I guess you were like me then?"

"Yeah. That's why I keep telling you these things. I remember when being a Guardian was all I ever wanted to be."

"And then you got chosen by a Ghost…"

"By sheer dumb luck." She sighed. "You see, there's another colony besides the City where we're from. A place we call the Reef."

"How do you survive out amongst the Grimm? You made it sound like you can't go anywhere without them attacking you."

"That's kind of how it is. We found a safe zone out there. A place _beyond_ the Grimm. They're so busy focusing on the City that they mostly ignore us."

"What's it like there?"

"Boring. At least that's how _I_ felt. But then again, I was considered different."

"In what way?"

"The Reef doesn't like the City or anything to do with them. Especially Guardians. In fact, anyone showing affinity for the Traveller's Light gets banished. I think it's because we're worried about attracting attention."

"I…see. I guess it's hard to be a Guardian fan out there then."

"You know it. In all the years I was there, I never even _heard_ of a Ghost arriving at the Reef."

"So one day you packed up and left?"

"No. One day, I ended up insulting our queen. So I was really _forced_ to pack up my bags and leave. It was either that, or imprisonment."

"So, you went to the City, where you…"

"Got chosen by a Ghost, yes."

"Oh." They sat there in silence for a while longer, just admiring the view. "Um, just wanting to know…"

"You should tell her about lover boy." Advice interrupted. Ti'ana glared at him. But the damage had already been done.

"You've got a boyfriend?" Ruby asked. Well now she was probably gonna bug her about him until she started talking. Might as well get it over and done with.

"Yeah. I do. His name is Solas. He's a Warlock like Katie."

"Did you meet on the battlefield?"

"Kind of. Better get comfortable though. It's a bit of a tale." Especially when you have to change half of it as you go along. "It all started when I got a mission to investigate the ruins of the old Skywatch…"

* * *

"_Junk… Trash… Looks like a Fallen scavenged everything from it… Don't have a clue what _this_ is…" She held a mangled pile of rubber and broken tubing by two fingers, before flinging it into the pile she was making. She pushed her hand into the moist pile again, and pulled out what might've been a magazine at one point. "So far everything looks exactly what I pictured centuries-old stuff to look like." She said dryly._

"_Keep searching. The Cryptarchs were certain that something's here." Little Light said, sifting through things not far from her position. "We just have to keep digging."_

"_If we keep this up, we'll be at the center of the planet at this rate." She replied, moving to another pile. Light looked up before starting._

"_Ah, I wouldn't look in that pile if I were you." He said hurriedly._

"_Why? Is it radioactive or something?"_

"_Don't be ridiculous." He scoffed. "Several of the items on top match several other data points, marking that as a waste disposal area."_

"_In English?"_

"…_It's a Fallen toilet." She practically jumped away from it, shaking her hand to get off the airborne filth._

"_Eww. Gross, gross, gross, gross." She moaned, still backing away. As she did so, her foot caught on the edge of the bed. She ended up tumbling onto the rotted mattress, falling through it as it fell apart under her contact. "There's a skeleton under this bed." She noted as she got back up. "Poor guy must've hidden underneath to escape the Darkness."_

"_What did he think this was? A nightmare?" Light said, not even looking up from his pile. It was a toss-up with him sometimes. At times, he could be even more concerned about people than she was. Always trying his best to help them if he could, or asking her to help out. Other times though, he wouldn't shed a tear for people who died long ago. It was kind of a toss-up with him. He stood back up, dusting off his hands. "Nothing. Perhaps we're simply in the wrong room."_

"_One down, a dozen more to go. Yay." Ti'ana gave a cheer of flat joy. They headed towards the next room, Ti'ana putting a few rounds into the Dregs that had been willing to brave her assault for hidden treasure. They pushed through a few ferns overgrowing a doorway to find themselves in a cafeteria. What food had been left behind had rotted away to nothing but a black stain on trays and plates. Several devices littered the tables and hung from the walls. As Light sorted through the nearest table, she wandered over to a weird box on the ground. It resembled a small ball, with a flat bottom and symbols covering it. She knelt down and tapped at the power symbol, a static-filled chime resounding from it. But then they were left with nothing but static, and she stood up frowning. Using the old tried-and-true techniques of Titans, she gently kicked it with the tip of her boot. And then kicked it again._

"_Stop!" A human voice shouted. She quickly twisted round, her gun in her hands, as a Warlock came running into the room. She couldn't tell with his helmet on, but his stance made him seem angry. "What do you think you're doing?"_

_She shrugged. "Getting this piece of junk to work. All I got was some static." The Warlock kept staring at her before shaking his head in disgust._

"_Typical Titan. Always thinking with your fists and not your head. Have you ever considered that this is a priceless artefact filled with great knowledge of the Golden Age, merely left damaged by time and weather?" He asked as he knelt down in front of the box, fiddling with parts. A few fixes managed to get it working, allowing it to finally play some noise. It sounded like a man singing a slow, childish song._

"_Yeah. I'm sure that's something our ancestors wanted us to remember for all time." She snarked, before holding out her hand. "Titan Ti'ana, unaffiliated."_

_The Warlock ignored her outstretched hand. "Warlock Solas, Fireteam Conman."_

_She pulled her hand back and leaned against the nearby wall. What a stuck up ass. Score one for the old stereotype. Light moved in, his single eye blinking wildly._

"_Greetings." He said formally. "What brings you out to the Skywatch?"_

"_From the look of things, same thing as you. Scouring this building for old artefacts and bringing them back to the Cryptarchs. Only I'm not smashing everything because I'm easily bored and unable to understand what I have." His tone oozed with ego._

"_Oh I understand what I've found so far. Junk, junk… and look, more junk." She said hotly. "Everything of value has already been picked clean. By us, or by the Fallen. There's nothing left. This is all just a waste of time. I could've been taking part in a Public Event, or doing a few patrols."_

"_Uh huh. Yes. Well, while you go off and do that, I'll be collecting the 'valuable' gear that you feel has already been taken. Go on, have fun. Leave the _real_ work to people like me." She looked at him suspiciously. From the way he was standing, he clearly wanted to tell her what he found. And how._

"_Spill it Warlock." She growled._

"_Very well then. If you had bothered to do more than just kick around everything at foot height, you would've had _your_ Ghost look through the computer files. And _if_ you had done that, he would've found records of a vault hidden below the facility, where they stored the most valuable and important gear this area contained. Of course, that would take more brainpower than you seem to have."_

"_So why tell me all that? You could've let me run off and take all the glory and rewards for yourself."_

"_I _could've_. But there's a bit of a war in my way. And I'm rather busy with an Unstoppable bounty at the moment…"_

"_So you want me to play meatshield so that you don't lose all your progress by suffering a damaging injury." She said, understanding. "Wow. You just managed to exceed all my expectations of what a dickhead Warlock would act like. Good job representing your class there pal."_

_Isn't that what you Titans __**do**__ for a living? Stand between us and the enemy and give your lives so that we might live?"_

"_Yeah, but I'd expect another Guardian to actually pull their weight." She retorted. "But if you're too scared to actually fight, then I suppose that'll have to do."_

"_I am simply cautious instead of rushing to my death." Solas replied, walking off. "Now, do you want to get some loot, or are you just going to stand there insulting me?"_

"_You started it." Ti'ana muttered, but she followed him anyway. When Master Rahool mentioned this request to her, he implied that there were a few pieces from the Cryptarch vaults that could be of use to someone like her. _

_She wasn't gonna miss out on that just because a Warlock was being obnoxious._

* * *

_When they reached the sublevels, they found a small war going on between the Fallen and the Hive. The four armed cyborg men jumped from cover to cover, energy particles flying as they started tearing into Thralls. And the Hive responded by blowing up the Fallen cover and shredding their Shanks with their claws. The good thing with all this fighting was that both sides were too busy killing each other to notice the two Guardians wandering into their midst._

_Ti'ana felt a rush of excitement running through her. So many enemies to wipe out and she had more than enough ammo for all of them._

"_Hmm. There's more than I anticipated on the cameras." Solas mused to himself. "Not surprising though. I doubt most of them would be considered functional. Sparks, how many are there?" Sparks, his Ghost, watched the two sides fight endlessly, calculating the shifting numbers._

"_I'd estimate somewhere around 47 Fallen, and 45 Hive." Sparks replied. "But the Knights are packing Boomers." Ti'ana made a face under her helmet. Boomers. The Hive's answer to grenade launchers. She always targeted them first in a fight when she could, if only to avoid getting overwhelmed by their explosive blasts. Seriously, they could be incredibly annoying when there's at least half a dozen blasting you._

"_And our target is on the other side of all this fighting. Of course it is." Solas groaned, before turning to Ti'ana. "Alright Titan. Time to earn your keep and do what you do best. Distract both sides while I get past them. Once I've got the vault unlocked, I'll help clean up what's left."_

"_Operation Meatshield is a go." She replied dryly, but inside she was glad. She wouldn't say it out loud right now (if only to avoid the Warlock's smug expression) but this was what she enjoyed doing. Entering a room full of enemies, and leaving the last woman standing. Light had been right to make her a Titan. She pulled her Auto Rifle from her back. "Just keep your head down princess. Wouldn't want those big nasty thugs to notice someone so defenceless." She moved to the left and around some rotted cargo crates, making sure to get as far from the Warlock before she made her move. She'd love to see his expression when his bounty meter was reset by an attack, but she knew first-hand how annoying it was to be so close and lose it all. Her Ghost stayed by her side, completely silent. This was her fight now, not his. There was a lull in the fighting, if only for a second. It was then that she tossed out her grenade at the largest grouping of enemies. Right when they clashed again. Body parts rained down around them as she scoped the Knights in the back, squeezing the trigger slightly to let of bursts. As one created a shield to hide behind, she moved to another until the shield dissipated. As she blew off the head of one, she was knocked sideways by a powerful beam. Cursing, she hid behind her cover. Right. The Fallen had snipers. Also a problem once they got going. A roar from her right made her look up, just in time to see a Knight approaching, sword in hand. She switched her rifle for her shotgun, the blast tearing through the Hive soldier. She rolled away from the corpse, shouldering her rifle again. Quick bursts disrupted the Fallen attack, throwing off their aim enough that she could pop their heads when she could. She crouched down again as she reloaded, another higher screech sounding. She found herself being knocked over by a swarm of Thralls, their claws biting into her shield and their teeth trying to rip into her skull. Gritting her teeth, she charged her light and slammed her free hands into the ground._

_The results were certainly distracting at least._

_The Thralls were thrown away from her in all directions, disintegrating into Arc energy as they sailed away. Now free, she stayed low until her shield regenerated. Then she got back out from cover and ran into the Fallen forces, shotgun now in hand. Everytime she had to stop and reload, she would only do so long enough to get one round in the chamber. Then she was slamming her fist into a Fallen Dreg's face. With the last of the Hive still attacking her, she tossed a grenade behind her, the explosion blinding the survivors. Vision white at the edges and ears ringing, she used the distraction to reload her weapons. Then she finished off the last soldiers. By the time her hearing had come back, she was alone in a room full of corpses. Panting slightly until her suit helped her calm down, she walked through the mess to find the Warlock and his Ghost still working away at the door._

_He didn't look up as she approached him. "Given the lack of sound in the next room, I assume that you were marginally successful." He said._

"_If 'marginally' is Warlock-speak for 'kicked for everyone's asses', then yeah. I was." She boasted._

"_And now I assume that you want to pound your chest like an animal and shove a keg of alcohol down your throat." He snarked back._

"_Yeah, so? What do you do to unwind? Study old texts from Pre-Golden Age or something?"_

"_As a matter of fact, I do. __**Some**__ of us happen to devote our lives to saving our history instead of just getting some thrills from a fight. But then, what can you expect from a Titan?"_

_Ok, that's it. She's had enough of his attitude. Sure, she could give it as good as he could. But one of them was going to have to stop this and grow up. She slammed her fist into the wall, cracks forming. "Ok, what the hell is your problem? At first I thought it was because of that shitty piece of tech I found, but now I'm starting to think you can't even make this personal."_

"_I'm sorry. Did my tone imply that I feel the need or the desire to actually talk about this with you?" He replied sarcastically, standing up and getting in her face. "I'm a Warlock, you're a Titan. Half of my words will just sail right over your feeble head. I command the Light itself to bend the cosmos to my will. Whereas all you do with it is make things explode." Though their glares were hidden by their helmets, their stances made it very clear they were one bad word away from a fight._

"_Uh, Solas?" They both turned to see Sparks, standing before an open door. "I managed to finally crack the seal."_

_The Warlock nodded. "Thank you Sparks. Now, let's have a look at the wondrous tech they felt needed saving." He pushed past her, trying to knock her aside. Given that he was in robes and she wore armour, all he did was probably bruise his shoulder. Shaking her head in disgust, she entered the vault too. The walls were lined with doors, each locked with a security pin pad. Light and Sparks were getting to work, quickly opening every door they could. She looked into one of them, reaching inside to pull out tubes. She went to open one, but the Warlock slapped her hand. "Do. Not. Touch. This stuff is centuries old. It could end up crumbling in your ham-fisted grip." Sparks appeared next to them, a beam emitting from his helmet. The tube disappeared, now stored in his servers. Opening the next door, she was pleased to see a blue glow shining into her face. Yes. Engrams. __**Decoherent**__ Engrams. At least she knew she was gonna get __**something**__ good out of all this mess. Light scanned it all up, and then she turned to the next door. And the next. And the next._

"_Well, I'm too full now. I don't think I'll be able to fit much more in." Light said after they went through at least six more doors. "We'll have to notify the Cryptarchs about this. Let __**them**__ grab the rest."_

"_Well, at least we found some decent gear." She said. "Now we can get as far away from that Warlock as possible, and hope we never run into him again."_

"_Believe me, the feeling's mutual." Solas said scathingly. They both walked out of the Vault. "And I found some things far more valuable and important than…" They both stopped, shocked._

_Before them, standing side by side, was a Fallen Captain and a Hive Wizard. Their HUDs showed them both with large golden health bars. Bosses._

"_Move!" She shouted, running back into the Vault, Solas right behind her. The bosses roared and started blasting at them, Arc and Solar explosions filling the air. Ti'ana poked her head around the door to try and get off a shot, but it was nearly taken off by a lucky blast. She shook the stars from her eyes, heart sinking. Normally, having a long hallway between her and a boss was useful. But with two of them, blasting away like this, it just turned things into a death trap. "Solas. You've got a full bar?" She shouted at him. They both knew that a 'full bar' was Guardian slang for a Super use."_

"_I do." He shouted back, even though they were only on opposite sides of the door frame. "But I can't use it while they're blasting like that."_

"_Well __**I**__ can't go out there without getting shredded by them. So unless you want to stay in here until they finally bring this place down on us…" She twisted away as she was nearly clipped by the Wizard's mist "… or poison us to death, I suggest you suck it up and start firing."_

"_But my bounty…"_

"_Forget your Traveller-damn bounty. You can get the Light filled up by doing patrol missions." She shook her head in disgust. "You're a Guardian. You're supposed to be a warrior, not some frightened baby."_

"_And you Titans are supposed to be defenders instead of just leaving people their fates." He shot back. The room almost went silent after he said that, as though he broke some precious rule._

_Then the blasting started up again, and cracks started climbing slowly up the walls._

"_Fuck this." She muttered. If she was going to die, it wasn't going to be with her back to the wall and cowering like a scared rat. Pulling her Rocket launcher from her back, she tossed a grenade down the hall. As it exploded, and screeches filled the air, she twisted round and fired it at their general vicinity. Fire filled the air, the Wizard now slightly more vulnerable than before. Yelling as she charged, she swapped her empty launcher for her rifle, firing it full auto as she ran. Once she was close enough, she moved to punch the Wizard in the face._

_Unfortunately, the flashbang had worn off._

_A black mist formed around her in a bubble, the air turning into treacle. She moved slower than before, and the mist started eating away at her shields. Another few seconds, and it would burn away at her armour. She was knocked to the ground as the Captain recovered, and blasted her off her feet with his cannon. Well, this had been a good run. She wished it could've lasted longer._

_As she got ready to insult the both of them, a dark orb crashed into them. The air was torn asunder as Void energy tore at them. Armour and flesh were shredded. The mist dissipated. She looked up to see Solas running down the hallway, his Pulse rifle flashing. It was certainly dramatic, until they Captain charged at him. They both went down in a heap. Twisting round, she slammed the end of her rifle into the Wizard's midsection, pulling on the trigger as hard as she could. It screeched as she tore through it, ichor raining down on her. She looked at Solas to see that he was losing. Badly. So she grabbed her shotgun with her free hand and fired. The Arc pellets shredded through the Captain's barrier and knocked it over, allowing Solas to back away and throw his grenade. The Captain was caught inside a Void vortex, the energy ripping away at it. It staggered out as little more than a skeleton, falling apart as it hit the ground. She looked back at herself as her rifle clicked empty, only to find herself coated in ash. The Wizard was gone, completely dead. They both panted as their shields regenerated and their armour and robes and bodies healed over._

"_That… Was insane." Solas said between breaths. "Foolhardy. Reckless. __**Beyond**__ stupid. And… and exactly what we needed." He walked over to her and held out a hand. She grabbed it gratefully and got back up. "You had the right idea. I… I guess… I'm not a smart as I thought."_

"_Hey, you're kinda smart. Just not… street-smart, I think the saying goes." She said. He nodded, staring at the bones of the captain. They were falling apart too, the Vortex tearing away at them._

"_When I first became a Guardian, I woke up with no idea what was happening. All I knew was that I was in a ruined city, there were four-armed things chasing me, and if I didn't start moving I was going to die." He said solemnly. "I didn't know who I was, what was happening, or even __**where**__ I was at the time. All I had was Sparks telling me to head in a direction." He smiled at the Ghost, who had left the Vault now that it was quiet again. "Well, I almost made it safety. But there was a massive tank in my path. Sparks told me to run away, but when I tried the tank brought a wall down on me. I was lying there, bleeding out and my systems barely keeping me alive. The tank was about to fire on me again…"_

"_And another Guardian distracted it." She guessed._

_He nodded. "Three of them. All of them Titans. They seemed so powerful there, blasting and tearing away at the tank. One of them held his hands out and a shield formed around them. The tank shell didn't even break it. Between the three of them, it was dead in moments. I called out to them for help, to get the wall of my back. They heard me, they __**saw**__ me… And then they turned away. I heard them laugh, something about a 'noob'. As they left, I closed my eyes and cursed them. And when I opened them, Sparks had gotten me out from under the wall." He took a deep breath. "Until now, I thought that all you Titans were like that. Only interested in the fight, not caring about others in need, brutes not interested in preserving knowledge… I suppose what I'm trying to say is that…" He stopped, as though he didn't know how to word it._

"_That we're here to defend?" She offered. "That we're awesome warriors? That we kick ass and take names?"_

"_I wouldn't go that far. I'd probably say that you're not __**all**__ complete morons." He replied. "No, actually, what I'm trying to say is thank you for shooting that captain. Gave me time to get free and finish him off."_

"_Don't sweat it. It's what I'd expect any __**good**__ Guardian to do. But I think that there's something else you need to do."_

"_Really? What's that?"_

"_Stop acting so smarmy all the time."_

"_Smarmy?"_

"_You know. Going on and on about how much smarter you are and you're more refined than everyone else. That kinda puts people off when you outright say or imply that you're better than them just because you're a Warlock."_

_He nodded. "I'll keep that in mind then."_

* * *

Ruby stared at her with sparkling eyes, mouth agape. "Wow." She whispered. "You really charged at two powerful enemies by yourself? After clearing out a whole room alone?"

"Yeah." Ti'ana replied. "That's what Guardians do. We go in and kill everything that isn't on our side."

"I help." Advice added.

"With the help of big and nasty guns, yes." She amended.

"And did Solas become… nicer?" Ruby asked.

"He did. Part of his problem was that because the first Titans he met were assholes, he acted like the rest were the same. And because he insulted them all the time, the other Titans didn't want anything to do with him. When he stopped being so rude, newer Titans started working with him again." She bowed her head. "When we had to kick Bianca off our fireteam for risking our lives on revenge, he was the first guy I thought of to take her place."

Ruby nodded, understanding. "What exactly are 'The Fallen'?" She asked.

"Cyborg pirates. Some altered lost colony that raids everyone for tech and riches. Their best soldiers are outfitted with an extra pair of arms to help them fight and grapple."

"Do you fight them regularly?"

"Pretty much. They're practically everywhere we used to live."

"And your Ghosts? They work alongside you? Why don't they fight?"

"They're more hackers and locksmiths than fighters. They get us into places and activate things, and we protect them in return." The lying was getting easier. "There's other stuff they can do, but that's classified. And don't give me those eyes. I'm not allowed to tell you." Ruby stopped giving her the kicked puppy look. Ti'ana took a deep breath through her helmet, the filters removing all foreign smells and particles. "God I'm sick of breathing through this thing." She muttered, more to herself. But of course, Ruby had impeccable hearing.

"So take it off then." She said. "I don't mind that you've got scars. I bet they're all signs that you're a badass fighter."

"Really?" Ti'ana asked sceptically. "You'd be perfectly fine with getting a scar from fighting?"

"Well, no. But if I did get one, I wouldn't try to hide it. Who cares what people think of you? They can't walk into a room and win every time. You shouldn't be ashamed of how you look."

"Ti'ana. Don't." Light said to her. "This is going to break all kinds of protocols."

"…" She sighed. "Ah, fuck protocols. I need some air." She tapped at her helmet, the seals releasing with a hiss. She twisted the helmet slightly and pulled it off. Ruby gave off a small gasp as she took in her appearance. Ti'ana turned to see her with wide eyes and a hand over her mouth. Giving a tired smile, Ti'ana brushed her white hair out of her eyes.

"When my colony escaped the City and the Darkness, we didn't leave unchanged." She explained. "For some reason, our skin turned blue and our eyes glow. No one knows why. No one remembers. But it marks us as something else. A fusion of the Light and the Dark. We aren't really human anymore. We're considered the Awoken."

"…Why?" That was all Ruby asked.

"Hell if I know. It's just some stupid name given to us. Something else to mark us as different." She leaned back, smelling the flowers nearby. "That's kind of a problem with us. A lot of things that we take for granted these days is because we can't remember why they happened. Why are the Awoken different? What happened to the Traveller to put him into a coma? How could we have lost all our colonies? Those are things that Warlocks study all the damn time."

Ruby looked out at the horizon, unsure as to what to say. Maybe Ti'ana just needed someone to vent to. Someone besides her fireteam. "It's starting to get late." She noted. "Should we start heading back?"

"…Give me a couple more minutes. It's been too long since I've felt the wind on my face."

* * *

"You're getting more reckless every day." Light scolded her. "Telling her about things from Earth is one thing, but you actually went and showed her your face. What if she starts talking to someone about it?"

"Ah, lighten up. She's got a Faunus on her team. She can keep a secret. And don't you _dare_ tell the others about this. I don't need another damn lecture from them." She replied.

"…Alright." He backed down. "But I still feel like you're taking too many risks."

"If we manage to find a way back home, then none of this will matter. And if we can't… Our lies were meant to be short-term only. They weren't made with the thought that we'd still be here almost a month later. There's no way in hell they'll last a year."

"Sounds like you're trying to justify your lapses in judgment." He said.

She shrugged. "A bit of A, bit of B. I'm just saying that our cover's gonna fall apart at some point. And if I talk a bit about it with her, it'll at least give us a bit of breathing room on what we're allowed to say." She had reached her door now, and started knocking. "Yo, Bianca. You decent in there?" Translation: Are you in bed wrapped in bandages?

"Decent enough." A muffled reply sounded. Shrugging, she opened the door to find Bianca's bed empty. She groaned as she quickly closed the door. Evidently, some people didn't understand subtlety. And to think _she_ called _her_ reckless. She turned to see Bianca standing by the wall next to the door, a helmet in her hand. It was shaped like an eagle face, and marked with red and white marks.

"That the exotic we found?" Ti'ana asked, forgetting to scold her. Bianca nodded as Tyrion digitised her armour. Clad in bandages and pyjamas again, she crawled back into bed. She sat down on her own bed, spotting Katie sitting by the desk and fiddling with some more Dust crystals. "What's it do?"

"It links up with my Golden Gun, concentrating all its power into one hard hitting shot. Increases damage output to six times the regular damage and grants the Keyhole perk. Line them up right, and it'll clear a room. And it's perfect for tough bosses and those bastards that just won't go down."

"And unless they're some kind of god-like monster, it'll tear through a shield like it's not even there." Katie added. She tossed a weapon at Ti'ana, who caught it with deft hands. "Here. One of the legendary engrams turned into this." Ti'ana looked at it closely, Light lifting it into the air for her. She was somewhat repulsed and yet intrigued by its appearance. It had the basic frame of a fusion rifle, but most of it was covered in some kind of Chitinous plate. A large spike jutted from the front like a small blade. Frowning, she had Light bring up a display of the mods installed in it. She had barely started looking before she was surprised.

"Is that… Does this thing have both Solar and Arc settings?" She asked in surprise. She's never heard of a weapon with dual elemental settings. They always only had one.

"Sure looks that way." Katie said. "That'll make it less of a hassle when having to switch. No more wasting clips changing weapons." For some reason, changing and materialising weapons, even of the same class and ammo type, uses up the ammo already stored in the guns. The only time it doesn't do that is when they change them on board the ships. Maybe the Ghosts change weapons too quickly to remove and reuse the ammo. "Anyway, pass it back. I've got something I want to do with it. Dinklebot, you finished with the plans?"

"I am." He replied. "Managed to find a place for the power cells, and a setting for the triggers. Would be nicer if I could've had a look at the others before I got started…" Ti'ana passed the gun back in confusion, where Katie threw it at Dinklebot. The Ghost caught it in his beam, disassembling it and creating new wire frames. Two of them, both round in shape.

"What… exactly are you doing?" Ti'ana asked.

"Katie said she had an idea for a new type of weapon." Bianca explained. "Sort of as an emergency weapon if you like. Got the idea from watching the kids fight the other day." As she said that, Ti'ana started understanding what the frames were meant to be.

"Gauntlets." She said. "You're turning them into gauntlets."

Katie nodded, just as Dinklebot dropped them both into her hands. On the inside, they had a gunmetal-grey frame, circuitry running along the surface. On the outside, they were covered in the same material the rifle had originally been made of. Glowing green holes peppered the ring in a perfect circle. She walked over to Ti'ana and held them out to her. Light appeared and zapped them, their frames appearing over her forearms. At the back near her elbows were two thick plates. Likely the charge packs.

"We figured that you'll find more use for them, since you're always punching things in the face and stuff." Dinklebot said. "There are two ways to trigger them, both with upsides and downsides." He floated towards her and started fiddling with the weapons. She heard something click, and a symbol of a glove appeared next to her melee ability. "Right now it's on the kinetic trigger. Simply put, it'll fire them when you punch something. The charge is instantaneous, but because of that it's weaker than normal. Not that it'll matter too much though, seeing as how you'll still have access to your own ability." He zapped it again, and now she had a gun symbol there instead. "That one's the ranged attack mode. The trigger's now in your palms. It works a lot like with a regular fusion rifle, with you having to press your palm for extended time to unleash the charge. I'd recommend against it while fighting with your main weapons."

"And to change the element I guess I have to have Light do that for me." She said, looking over the gauntlets. Not gonna lie, this seems _incredibly_ useful. Traveller knows how often she'd have loved another kick to her punches. Smiling to herself and nodding, she turned for the door.

"Wait. Where are _you_ going?" Bianca asked. "Katie's got more stuff to tell us."

"Well considering you didn't call me up as soon as you heard it, we mustn't be able to use it just yet. As for me, I'm a Guardian with a new toy. I'm off to test this against something." She replied as she left.

Perhaps being stuck here wasn't as bad as she feared.

* * *

**Whew. This took a lot more words than I was expecting. I guess I should explain a few things now.**

**I'm going into detail about this in a later chapter, but our three Guardians are far older than they seem. Ti'ana left the Reef about 200 odd years ago, around the time the City Age started. Bianca, as evident from her memory, lived during the beginning of the Collapse. And as Exos haven't been made since the Golden Age, Katie been around since then. In fact, all Exos are centuries old now. And according to lore, the number by an Exo's name refers to how many times they've had their memories wiped. Apparently the Dark Ages were really horrible, kind of like you'd expect a time where Humanity was at the brink of extinction to be. A lot of people from that age probably had to do horrible things to survive.**

**Ti'ana's story to Ruby was altered by her to fit in with everything she's already mentioned. Hence why the Ghosts are people instead of floating robots, the Fallen are cyborg men, and the Unstoppable bounty is for being hit instead of killed.**

**And I know that the Nighthawk is from House of Wolves. But it is my new favourite Hunter helmet, and it's incredibly useful. So they get it from the Hive instead.**

**And as I mentioned before, Ironwood only seems like an enemy because he's very protective of Remnant. I'm sure that standard procedure when encountering a likely hostile hit squad is to contain them, not invite them to a school and watch them from afar.**

**Next time, things are going to get actiony again. Secrets will be revealed, a plot arc will be visited… and things will head towards an interesting moment.**

**And no, it's not that it's going to finish soon.**

* * *

**Edit: Sorry about adding this on right now, but I really just need to vent about this before my head explodes. Today, on Tuesday the 8th of September at 7:50pm New Zealand time, I was at the Hellmouth area when some Wolves showed up. Needless to say, I figured I would kill them to get some blue engrams. Now, I managed to kill the initial wave with the two Captains and the Scorch Cannons, when a Level 34 Titan came over and took one of the cannons. I thought "Sure. Why not?" Since I figured he would help out. but no. He took it to go and deal with the Public Event. An Extraction Crew Event. One of the easiest events you can get, even easier than a Warsat. And when I dropped my own cannon to not waste shots on a couple of Vandals still standing, he came back _AND TOOK THE OTHER ONE. FOR THE SAME GODDAMN EVENT._ So here I am, facing the leader and his crones, my Golden Gun wasn't anywhere near enough, and I get killed. While doing an Unstoppable Bounty. And I die again, and again, and when the asshole finally comes back (sans cannon) it was too late and the Wolves scattered.**

**WHY THE HELL WOULD A GODDAMN 34 EVEN NEED A SCORCH CANNON FOR AN EXTRACTION EVENT?! THAT SHOULD'VE BEEN EASY FOR THEM! I'M ONLY LEVEL 32 AND I COULD DO IT IN MY SLEEP! THAT WAS JUST A SELFISH BASTARD WHO ONLY WANTED TO WASTE GOOD AMMO ON THE STUPIDEST THING, A PERSON WHO'D PROBABLY SCREW EVERYONE OVER SO THAT HE COULD DO WHATEVER THE FUCK HE WANTS! SCREW YOU PAL. I WANT TO RAM A HAND CANNON INTO YOUR TITAN'S FACE, AND BLOW A HOLE THROUGH BOTH SIDES BEFORE RIPPING YOUR JAW OFF WITH MY DAGGERS!**

**...Sorry about that. Rants in Fanfics always turn me off. I just really needed to get this out there. And I'm pretty sure that most Guardians understand my frustration and rage.**

**On the plus side though, at least I won't have to begin my next chapter with this.**


	7. Unleash the Light

**Chapter 7: Unleash the Light**

* * *

Ruby groaned as she forced herself to listen to Professor Port's tedious lesson. His lessons always seem to involve more storytelling than actual facts. And they're all about his skill as a former Hunter. And she was pretty sure that most of them were made up.

"…And so, after several gruelling hours chasing each other through the canyons, I finally managed to corner the beast in a dead end. He threatened to charge me down, but I was craftier than him. I fired upwards, dislodging several large boulders stuck overhead, along with the tower nearby and the natural bridge. The beast tried to kill me first, but it was too late. And so I managed to capture my long time arch nemesis, Edgar." He stood back up properly instead of leaning forward. "Until some buffoon took offence to my trapping it and decided to free it. And his companion killed it as it ran." Mercifully, the bell rang loud and clear. "Ah, I see. That concludes today's lecture. Be sure to read up on today's chapters for homework. We _will_ be having a test on them next lesson." The class groaned as they heard that.

"Boy, his stories are getting wilder with every telling." Yang said, grabbing Ruby by the shoulder. "I've never even _heard_ of a cow Grimm before."

"I think he was making it up." Ruby replied. Sure, there were probably some species of Grimm that she hadn't heard of yet. Powerful and dangerous ones. But the idea that there was a giant cow Grimm out there that apparently had a grudge against Professor Port himself sounded ridiculous. She turned around on the spot, wanting to make sure everyone was together. Yang was right beside her. Weiss was checking her reflection. Blake was… was…

She was just leaving the classroom, head buried in her scroll and looking determined.

"Oh no." Ruby said to herself. The last time she saw that look, Blake had nearly worked herself to death trying to figure out what the White Fang were doing with Torchwick. Please don't let it be happening again. She pulled herself free of Yang, and moved quickly to Blake's side. "Hey Blake. You doing ok?"

"Huh?" Blake looked at her, startled. "Oh. Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. There's just…" She looked around at everyone before leaning in. "Get the others and meet me in our room after our next class." She whispered. Then she was being carried off with the crowd, away from Ruby.

Ruby still felt worried though. She didn't want her teammate to start self-destructing like that again.

* * *

"Alright Blake. We're all here and accounted for. What's this big thing you want to talk to us about?" Yang said as she closed the door behind her. And for good measure, she locked it too.

Blake turned towards them, clearing her throat. "While I was focusing my efforts on discovering what the White Fang were up to…" She started saying.

"You mean _obsessing_ over the White Fang." Weiss interrupted.

Blake nodded at her. "Point taken. Anyway, I had gotten in contact with an old colleague of mine from back when I was with the Fang. He's retired from it now, but he keeps his ear to the ground in case they start going too far."

"And he replied, didn't he?" Yang guessed.

"Yes. According to his info, the White Fang have started outsourcing to other groups on Remnant. Not just Vale, but Atlas, Vacuo, and Mistral too."

"Wow. This is… really, really big." Ruby said lamely.

"It is. But he's provided me with the name of the group helping out here in Vale. The Red Lotus."

"Hmph. A major crime organisation comprised of degenerates, scumbags, and monsters." Weiss explained. "And coincidently, its hierarchy is mostly comprised of Faunus now."

Blake didn't even bristle at that. "Half of them were Faunus that the old White fang considered too dangerous to be associated with. Guess the new leadership is recruiting." She tilted her head quizzically. "But how do _you_ know about them?"

Weiss looked away. "Father… tends to keep an eye on _any_ organisation mostly comprised of Faunus. In case they start becoming an ally of the White Fang." Blake nodded, understanding.

"So there's another group out there helping Torchwick and the Fang with whatever stuff they're planning." Yang summed up. "We gonna go and blow them up or what?"

"We _could_ go to the authorities instead with this." Weiss suggested, being the voice of reason. "Just say that we're an anonymous tip off or something."

Blake shook her head. "Wouldn't work. The cops would want to know how we found out about this, who our contact is, things like that. And that's assuming they're even willing to trust an ex-White Fang member. _And_ on top of that, the Red Lotus has people on their payroll. The only reason their _former_ leaders were replaced were through bigger bribes, or going missing." She turned to Weiss. "And I'm certain your father would notice you borrowing enough cash to beat their prices." She turned back to the others. "If we're going to stop them, I'm afraid that we're on our own."

An idea started forming in Ruby's head. This could be a good chance to show Miss Aqua just how awesome she is. In fact, it might be enough to get her to decide to call a Ghost and have them make her a Guardian. She was practically drooling in excitement.

"Well, there's always…" Yang started saying. Ruby interrupted her before she could suggest someone joining them.

"Come on guys. We're Huntresses in training. We can handle a few gang guys with ease. We'll head out tonight when it's dark and drop them off at the police before it's even curfew. You'll see."

The others looked at each other worryingly, but shrugged. It wasn't like that wasn't what most of them had planned to do anyway.

* * *

Tyrion was in the middle of his patrol that night, eye roaming round the grounds for anything interesting. But quite a few times he was drawn towards the moon high above, the shattered surface visible to all. He wondered how such a thing could've happened. Did Remnant at one point have people living on the moon, just like back on Earth? Was the damage caused by the Darkness, or the Hive? Did it get destroyed clearing away their Hellmouth? Or was the damage done when the Darkness arrived, a symbol of its fury and sadism? Without any information, everything was simple guesswork. Just like figuring out what happened during the Collapse.

He also pondered what happened here with The Traveller. On this world, when the Darkness arrived, He ran away to another galaxy. Or another dimension. Yet on Earth, He stuck around to fight back. Was there something about Earth that made them unique? Or did the Traveller just choose their world to stop running and to stand and fight? Tyrion wished that He would wake up, if only so they could get some answers. Turning his eye back to the grounds, he halted suddenly. Four people, hidden by shadows, were running out of the grounds. Towards an area marked on his map as a land-based passage to Vale. They were too far away for him to catch up to, but something made his check somewhere else. Perhaps it was his 'gut', as Bianca would call it. A niggling feeling that two things were linked.

When he arrived outside team RWBY's window, he found their room completely empty.

"Bianca? We've got a slight problem." He said through his connection to her, his voice instantly transmitting to her head. He heard her snuffle in response, before yawning loudly.

"Tyrion?" She replied blearily. "Can't this wait till morning or something?"

"Afraid not. I believe that team RWBY is sneaking out of Beacon."

"What?" She said in surprise, sounding alert now. "Where the hell are they going?"

"To Vale. Or at least that's what I'm assuming, given their current path."

"Keep following them. We'll be with you as soon as possible." He heard her cursing, likely trying to untangle herself from her sheets. "Ti'ana. Get your blue ass out of bed and…" He cut her off, focusing on following the girls. He just hoped they didn't hop into a vehicle or something. While he was pretty fast, there was no way he could keep up with them if they did that. Luckily for him, for now they seemed content with just running the rest of the way there.

Until they took a turn off the path. A turn he had marked as leading to a launch pad. With a Bullhead waiting there.

_Clever_. He thought as he moved to catch up to them. But he heard the rotors moving, and suddenly he was worried. "No, no, no, no." He said to himself, rushing to at least get to the ship before it left. Maybe he could integrate into its… His thoughts were disrupted as it suddenly lifted off, the gust blowing him away. He spun for several moments before righting himself, still feeling dazed. Shaking the dizziness away, he could only watch as Team RWBY flew away.

He looked up as he heard something hover over him, seeing the undercarriage of Ti'ana's Phaeton. He silently cheered. The hunt wasn't over yet.

* * *

"What the hell are those four even doing, sneaking off like this?" Bianca asked, tracking their ship from higher above. The Phaeton's radar dish easily picked up the Bullhead's transponder, heading towards downtown. "Leaving in the dead of night, stealing an airship. What's their game?"

"Who knows?" Katie replied, shrugging. "Maybe it has something to do with the White Fang. Those kids seemed determined to deal with it on their own."

"We can give them a scolding _after_ we've followed them." Ti'ana said moodily. She was worried now, part of her thinking that her telling Ruby about what Guardians can do motivated her to do something stupid. Traveller-dammit, Bianca was right. She should've listened to her warnings from the start. "Right now though, we need to keep a close eye on them."

"Not exactly easy with all the low clouds." Katie said. And indeed, it was practically impossible to see the city beneath them. Or anything between them and Vale. While it meant that no one could see them flying higher than other ships, it also meant that they had to rely on the radar to keep track of anything. Weird how the clouds formed so thickly over the city. Ti'ana looked at her console again and frowned. At this rate, they were going to be heading outside the city. Where exactly were they going?

"Ok. If they're leaving the city, we need to stop them." She said, pushing down on the wheel. "I'll fly above them, and Katie can drop down inside the ship. Can we do that?"

"Theoretically, yes. It's just something we haven't had to do since… ever." Light replied. Good enough for her. She dropped down out of the clouds, the Bullhead completely visible to them now. She kept getting closer until the underside of the Phaeton was almost touching the Bullhead. "You're up Katie. Try to be gentle with them."

"Will do." Katie replied, her body vanishing into light as she was teleported. Ti'ana turned back to the controls and made sure to stay level and alert. Wouldn't be good for the air currents to push them into each other. A flash behind her alerted her to Katie's return.

"It's empty." She said, sounding worried.

"What?" Ti'ana and Bianca said at the same time, looking at her in shock.

"The autopilot was engaged at some point. They must've realised we were following them and jumped out." Ti'ana scrunched up her face and started cursing under her breath. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. What the hell are these girls even _thinking_? Just what were they up to? Frustrated, she jerked the Phaeton back towards the city, leaving the Bullhead to keep flying away until it ran out of fuel.

"Great." Bianca spat. "_Now_ how do we find them?"

"I can sync the radar to track their scrolls, assuming they haven't dumped them or anything." Light said as he fiddled with the radar. Four points cropped up on the screen, all close together and moving in a singular direction. "Done. If they've gotten rid of their scrolls though, then I haven't got a clue what to do next."

"In that case, screw subtle. Ti'ana, drop us off over the city. We'll catch up to them on our sparrows. Let's just hope we can get to them before something stupid happens."

They heard a dull thudding sound, like a giant taking a step. Or a cannon firing and exploding. And it came from the same direction that Team RWBY was going.

"You were saying?" Katie snarked as Ti'ana engaged the autopilot system. The ship flew low enough for them to drop down on the ground, already materialising their sparrows. Katie held Bianca tightly as they raced through the near empty streets to their destination.

_Please don't let that have been them._ Ti'ana worried. _Please let that be something completely unrelated._

* * *

But when they finally found the girls, when they arrived at a warehouse area that the thud had come from, things were exactly as she had feared.

"How the hell did these guys get a _tank_ in the middle of Vale?" Katie asked in exasperation, the three of them scouting the immediate area. Over several dozen men were in there, working on unloading and loading crates. Inside one of the sheds was a large tank, set up on four spidery legs with red lights running down the sides.

And in the center of the area was Team RWBY, tied up and injured. Their weapons were lying several feet away. Too far for anyone to grab before getting shot up.

"Probably the same way that Torchwick did. Money." Bianca replied.

"We need to get those girls out of there." Ti'ana said, bringing up Little Light. She flicked through her menu and changed her sub-class. Her Light felt dimmer as everything had to reset, the meter slowly but steadily rising. "But we also need to get rid of that tank. With it waiting there, we won't be able to stop moving."

"Plus there's a huge crowd of armed guards watching over them. Even my Bladedancer invisibility couldn't get me past all of them." Bianca said.

"We should split up then." Katie said. "I'll go for the tank with my Nova Bomb while you two distract the guards. Ti'ana, that should get you enough kills to pop up your Ward. Once we've got all four of them inside the Ward, then we can pick off the rest at our leisure."

Ti'ana and Bianca nodded in agreement. That plan would work. "Moving in on three… two…" Ti'ana moved her foot forward, and a rock was grounded into dust under it. Hardly loud enough to be heard.

One of the men there, a Faunus, grabbed Ruby and wrapped his arm around her, a large pistol against her head. He turned on the spot. "Alright you freaking heroes, listen up." He shouted. "I know you're there. You've got till the count of three to come out with your hands up, or I'll blow this little bitch's brains out. Her Aura's weak enough that one bullet will be more than enough." Ti'ana zoomed in on her. He was right. Ruby's barrier was almost completely gone. And worse, this guy had full shields himself. Light had rated him as a major. Too strong for a single sniper round to stop him. Not with her so close. "One… Two…"

Ti'ana heard Bianca cursing even as they all stood up. "Alright, alright. We're coming out already. Just don't anything we'll _make_ you regret." She said. Katie and Ti'ana stood up slowly beside her.

Well, no one said that stealth was a Guardian's main skill.

"Get over here." The Faunus said. They walked towards him, making sure not to do any sudden moves. Not until he lets go of Ruby.

"Got a match on him." Light said inside her head. "Remus Bloodoak. Wolf Faunus. Leader of the Red Lotus criminals. Over a dozen missing person reports linked to his name. Be careful Ti'ana."

"It's not me I'm worried about." She said, her helmet blocking her voice outside. They were now standing in the middle of the group, a dozen guns pointing straight for them. Even her shields would have difficulty weathering that kind of storm.

"Guns here. With the rest." Remus said gruffly, pointing to the pile. They threw their primary and special weapons down at his feet. Fortunately for them, they still had their heavy weapons loaded in their ghosts, all with full ammo. If things turned nasty, they'd still have a backup plan.

"Who the hell are you three supposed to be?" Remus asked. "Atlesian soldiers or some shit?" He scoffed. "Well, you're in the wrong fucking neighbourhood. Let me give you three some tips." He waved a hand – the one with the gun – around, pointing to everything. "This place right here? It's mine. Everyone here does everything I say. The law doesn't bother me anymore. They're too busy being scared to come and do anything here. I could be standing over your corpses and telling them that you all walked out of here alive, and they'd parrot it back to me. There are no heroes out here. No one's dumb enough to try. People are afraid of death. It haunts us at every step. And so no one's willing to risk their life just to see me walk free anyway." He threw Ruby back to the ground at their feet. Yang, Weiss and Blake glared daggers at him. "So what I don't get it what the hell you thought coming in here would ever accomplish."

"Who cares?" Another man said. "We've got the Schnee Heiress here. Do you have any idea how much daddy will pay to get his daughter back? We'll be loaded." He stroked Weiss' cheek, and the heiress shuddered.

Remus shook his head. "Phil, Phil. You're thinking too small. Why give her to Schnee for a pittance and get an army on our backs… when we can give her to the White Fang. They'll pay twice as much for her. And then, they could use her to free more of our brothers. Oodles of money _and_ dozens of Faunus for the price of one little bitch."

"You know, my father won't agree to those terms." Weiss said bravely. "He knows that those Faunus will join your foul terrorist army and attack us again."

"Well he'd better change his tune. Or else I'll bet that the White Fang send you back to him in lots of boxes." He grabbed her by the chin. "An ear here. A finger there. A heart in another box…"

There was no warning. No ultimatum. One moment, Bianca was standing like the rest of them, hands in the air. The next, her hand cannon was in her hands and she had buried a knife to the hilt in someone's head. The men shouted and yelled as she started unloading on them, tossing a grenade and letting sub-munitions toss criminals into the air. But then as she was reloading, Remus pulled out a shotgun from his back. He rammed it into her gut and unloaded it, blasting a hole through her back. Bianca screamed as she fell, right before he fired his last shot into her visor. Blood and matter splattered everywhere.

It all happened so fast.

"You see?!" Remus shouted, ignoring Team RWBY's shocked expressions. "This. Is what happens. When you pretend. To be a hero. You just end up in a puddle of blood, while I'm still on top." He turned towards one of his men. "And you. You're supposed to be watching the guns. So how the hell did she manage to get her pistol back?" The guard paled.

"Ti'ana." Bianca's voice echoed in her head. "Is your Super ready yet?"

"Yeah." She replied. "I can throw it up at any time. Just give me the word."

"My sniper rifle's got an over penetrating mod installed. I'll take out the four standing over the girls, and then you throw up your Ward. Katie, you'll start clearing out the guards while Ti'ana deals with any inside."

"Already got the Armour of Light set up." Little Light replied.

"Good. Be ready to move. I just need them all distracted."

"Should I try the kamikaze route too?" Katie asked wryly. But Ti'ana wasn't paying attention anymore. One of the men was watching Blake closely. And her bow was moving. The guard snarled, and stepped towards her. He grabbed the bow and ripped it off, revealing Blake's ears to them.

Remus stopped yelling at the unfortunate guard, and turned.

"Well." He growled. "That explains why you seem to piss me off, girly." He stepped closer menacingly. "So. One of our number… A Faunus… is friends with a Schnee." He smiled evilly at her. Blake, on her part, didn't react.

Until he drove his fist into her stomach.

"You working against your own kind, traitor?" He asked as she fell coughing to the ground. "You _like_ being this girl's pet? Her slave? Huh? Do you?" He yelled this last part as he kicked her. Blake yelled in pain as rolled onto her side, trying to protect it as best as she could. But he kicked her again. And again. And again.

And so Katie and Ti'ana, the only two expecting it, saw Bianca's corpse and her weapons fade away into Light. Tyrion flew higher up, and she was suddenly crouching with her rifle in hand. A loud bang filled the air, and the four standing over the girls had mist for heads. Ti'ana threw her arms outwards, and a purple dome formed around them. Her shotgun appeared in her hands as Katie started shooting people.

Then the real fun started.

"Get down." Ti'ana ordered, even as she punched one guard into Void particles and started unloading her gun into people. Remus ran up to her, his own shotgun turning into a club. He slammed it against her back. The damage to her shields was barely felt. Not with her Force Barrier up. The other guards inside kept shooting at her, while those outside watched as their bullets were stopped dead. She simply kept shooting, the armatures in her gauntlets moving faster than she could to reload. What normally took her several seconds was done in only one. Her punches killed anyone dumb enough to get close. Remus, wisely seeing he wasn't doing anything, jumped out of the Ward. The last guard whimpered as she slammed his head from his shoulders. Team RWBY jumped as the tank fired, its shell exploding harmlessly against the Ward. But they didn't have much time. She quickly snapped the bindings holding them and handed them their weapons. "Alright, listen up. I want you four to get to cover and _stay there_ until everything's clear. Stay. I don't want any sudden heroics from you guys." They all nodded, Weiss helping Blake to her feet. "Now go. Move!" They ran for cover as quickly as they could, while Ti'ana stepped out long enough to throw her grenade. "Light, make me a Striker."

"Switching over." He replied as she ran for cover. Katie and Bianca had made short work of whoever was left. Only the tank was left now, and the few men huddling around it. As Bianca ran forward, her hand cannon was replaced by her Golden Gun. She aimed for one of the legs, and fired a single shot. It melted a giant hole into the leg, causing the tank to stumble. Its shell fired off wildly into the sky. Ti'ana took a couple of pot shots, but her focus was on the stragglers. She skidded underneath before slamming her fist into the first idiot in her path.

But she had primed her fusion glove beforehand.

Arc energy burst out, throwing the poor guy backwards as he disintegrated. She spun around him, burying her scout rifle axe into another guy before punching his friend. The others gained enough wits to start shooting back, and she hid behind a surviving leg. Explosions from above showed that the others were nearly done with the tank. She reached behind her, and Advice materialised into her hands.

"Say hello to my little friend." She called out as she pulled out of cover. The men started as they saw the calibre of her weapon.

"Prepare to die, assholes." Advice said, before she left him loose. The men started running, but his bullets chewed them up like a cheap dinner. She ducked as a large explosion sounded above, and tried to run out before the whole thing fell on her.

She didn't make it.

* * *

"Miss Aqua!" Ruby screamed, watching the Guardian get crushed underneath the destroyed tank. Despite her injuries, despite her exhaustion, she still started running towards the wreckage. Tears were running down her cheeks.

This was all going so wrong. It had started off great that night, with them 'borrowing' a Bullhead to get to Vale. But then Weiss had noticed a small drone of some kind watching them. They had decided to engage the autopilot and jump out to throw them off the scent. They had snuck into the warehouse district, ready to ambush the Red Lotus. A few hit and run attacks to wear them down, surprise them with an all-out assault. Easy, simple…

And then it turned out that they had a tank. And far more men than they were expecting. And Remus himself was even tougher than Torchwick was.

So here they were, with them in need of rescuing, and Ti'ana dead trying to save them.

But she saw Miss Gaea die. Her blood was still staining the ground. And yet here she was, walking around and fighting as though it never happened. Nothing was making any sense. What was going on?

"Yo, Light." Bianca called out, kneeling near the fallen tank. "You ready for resurrection?"

"Ready and able." A male voice responded. Ruby gasped as she saw a small floating drone – similar to the one Weiss said she spotted tailing them – appear before Miss Gaea. She held a hand out towards it, and it started glowing. The bits surrounding its eye exploded outwards, floating around it and moving faster and faster. The glow turned into a humanoid shape, and then when it faded, Ti'ana was standing before them. Alive and whole.

"See, _that's_ why you should try and spec into agility sometimes." Bianca snarked. But Ti'ana ignored her. Instead, she pushed past her and approached Ruby. The young Huntress started feeling very nervous. Ti'ana stopped in front of her, helmet hiding her expression. But given how she was standing, Ruby was _pretty_ sure she wasn't happy.

"Little Light. Scan them for injuries." She said to no one. The little drone appeared out of thin air, floating towards Ruby and scanning her with a beam. It then flew over to the others, scanning each of them in turn before flying back to Ti'ana.

"None of them have any severe injuries, though Blake will need to see a doctor about her bruises some time tonight." The drone said, sounding like a real person. Like Penny. "The rest of them have only got some scrapes, burns and bruises."

"Good." She seemed to sigh. But then she grabbed Ruby painfully by the upper arms. "Then what the hell were you all _thinking_?! This isn't a game Ruby. That creep was willing to kill you all without a second thought. Your teammates could've _died_."

"I…I'm sorry." Ruby sniffled. Seeing Ti'ana upset with her was just as bad as if the others were angry with her. "I…I just wanted to show how awesome I could be. Catch the attention of a Ghost…"

"There are no Ghosts in Vale." She shook her head and sighed. "We'll talk once we're back on the ship. Help the others up and let's get moving."

"What about Remus?" Weiss asked. "I don't feel all that comfortable with that lunatic knowing about me."

"_He's_ not your concern anymore. _Your_ concern is getting yourself healed, and hoping that Ozpin doesn't punish you four too strictly for this crazy plan." Ti'ana replied.

"No." Blake grunted, one arm wrapped around her stomach. "We can't let him get away. He's supplying Torchwick with Dust. He knows something. I can feel it. This is our only chance to stop him."

Ti'ana looked at her before turning to 'Little Light'. "Well?" She asked him.

"Personally I feel that chasing after a criminal is _not_ the best use of our time." He replied. "But seeing as I'm following you, my opinion doesn't matter all that much."

"He _does_ sound like someone that needs to be dealt with." Katie said as she approached them. "And Weiss is right. That creep isn't going to leave us alone. We've practically wiped out his operations here. He won't take that lying down."

Bianca nodded. "Alright then. We'll finish our fight with this guy and interrogate him. But if we're doing this, then you four need to listen to us. Stay at the back, out of danger. Got it?" Team RWBY nodded.

"Girls, lets break down some doors."

* * *

Remus seethed as he made a tactical decision to relocate to another location. Those wannabe Huntress bitches thought that they could kick him out with their damn teachers? He was the Alpha Wolf of this whole damn district. Everyone here feared his might. As soon as he had wrangled up some more men, he was leading an assassination mission right into Beacon to rip their heads off. And then on to Signal for that kid with them.

"Get everything packed up." He growled at one of his surviving men. "We're pulling out… for now." As he said that, the room shook from an explosion. Dust rained down around them. And then he heard the sound of gunfire. The man near him looked at him in worry. "Well, what are you waiting for? Put those bitches down already." The man jumped, before racing towards the fighting. As he did so, Remus headed towards his office. He engaged the security systems as he entered, the thick door sealing shut behind him and the twin turrets activating. He smirked as he took his place behind thick cover. Anyone breaking through those doors was in for a bloodbath. He didn't look up from checking his weapon for any minute damage, even when the screams of his men were right outside his door.

His smirk turned into a frown though, when the door turned into little more than motes of purple light. Along with a sizable part of the wall. In the sizzling circle that had replaced his door, those three adult Huntresses were pointing their guns at him.

"Open fire." He shouted, ducking behind cover as bullets flew. The voice recognition system immediately responded, firing off lead like there was no tomorrow. He looked up to see that the armoured lady's shotgun had unfolded into a shield, purple energy blocking all the bullets. The lady in the robes somehow pulled out a rocket launcher from nowhere, peeking out from behind her knight friend to start blasting his turrets. At the same time, the lady with the cape pulled out a glowing gun made of fire, unloading a single round into the other turret. The whole damn frame melted into a puddle. He started unloading his own shots as the three moved away from each other, pulling the turret in differing directions. He saw his bullets slam into the robed lady's shield, but she fired wildly at his head. As he ducked down, a thunderous chorus of bullets filled the air. And then a groaning sound as the other turret fell.

Now may be a good time to use his hidden exit.

But as he moved to run, another explosion threw him off his feet. His cover was practically disintegrated, the knight dusting off her hands. She turned him over and stomped a foot onto his chest, shotgun pointing right in his face. He looked at them in shock. All that armour and weaponry, and these three tore it all down like it was nothing. What the hell were these ladies?

"Alright dickhead." The knight growled. "We want some answers, and you probably don't want a few dozen rounds to the face. So start talking."

He growled. "Never." He batted aside her shotgun, just as she pulled the trigger. Then he slammed his fists into her armour, pushing her back. But her gauntlets started sparking, and when their fists slammed into each other his arm was suddenly in pain. Lightning arced over his flesh, his Aura saving his hide. But she fired her shotgun again, before punching him again with those gauntlets, and his Aura took a savage pounding. The caped lady fired off her gun, the bullets tearing into his legs. He yelled in pain and fury as he fell down, but then the knight slammed her knee into his head. When the sky had stopped spinning, they were right back where they started.

"Wanna try that again?" She asked him. He shook his head slowly. With his Aura so battered, he couldn't hope to win. Better to play along, and get out through his contacts. "Didn't think so. Now, why are you working for Torchwick?"

"Working for him? Lady, I work _alongside_ him. And only because the White Fang asked me to. He's working for someone with big plans. Plans for a better future."

"Plans that just so happen to require lots of ammunition."

He shrugged. "Sometimes you've gotta break things to fix them."

"Do you know who he's working for?" Robed lady asked.

"Not a clue." He smirked. He stopped smirking as the knight moved her foot to his neck. His eyes bulged as he choked.

"Wrong answer. Try again." She moved her foot back down, slamming it painfully against his chest. He coughed wildly as he got back his breath.

"Alright, alright. I know a bit. More than I should. I actually got to see his boss from a distance. Weird looking guy. Kinda dressed like your friend here." He nodded his head towards the lady with the cape.

"What made him look so weird?" The knight asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She slammed the end of her gun right into his face. "Ok, ok. Easy now." She moved it away. "The guy had grey skin. Like he was made from ash or stone or something. Except for his eyes. Those were glowing golden." That got something out of them. The three ladies looked at each other, their body movements worried. He saw an opening. "And he will not be pleased to see my operations disrupted. You let me go though, and I'll forget what you three even look like. Deal?"

The knight stared at him for a long time before slamming her gun right into his face again. He looked at her with wide eyes.

"No deal." *BANG*

* * *

It was busy in the underground warehouse. White Fang soldiers moved all over the place, sorting out the shipments of Dust they had received from lowlifes and other criminal scum. One of them though was moving around with a message in his hands. He pushed past busy people and large crates, seeking out his target. He found him counting the amount of Lien they had gained from all the thefts. His heart sank. The boss made it clear that he hated being interrupted while counting money. But he'd probably hate the news even more.

"Uh, Mr Torchwick sir?" he said nervously. As expected, Torchwick rounded on him, the end of his weapon pointed right at his face.

Torchwick took a deep breath. "Chuck, I was on a real good roll with counting my share of our payday. So for your sake, I hope that is _really, really_ important."

"We, uh… we got a report from the guys that went to pick up the Lotus' shipment." He handed over the scroll, and the information on it. Torchwick did a quick skim before sighing in anger, putting his weapon down as he did so.

Chuck breathed a sigh of relief.

"Great." Torchwick muttered. "That's another supplier down the drain. The kind of people who can get this kind of stuff don't just grow on trees Chuck. And all he had to do was keep a low profile for a couple of days. Now I gotta tell Cinder about this." He shook his head. "This. Is why. I hate. Working for someone else." He glared at Chuck. "Make sure that the next news is _good_ news. Capishe?"

"Yes Sir." Chuck said, leaving as quickly as he could without running. Torchwick growled in frustration even as he stomped off towards the 'offices'. Damn Cinder, making _him_ come to _her_. He grumbled to himself even as he keyed in the security codes, heading into a darkened hallway. And would it kill these guys to get some lights around here? He could be walking right past her, and never even…

"Hello Roman." Cinder's voice sounded behind him as she walked past. "I'm assuming that you've got a good reason to see me?"

"Remus got himself killed." He replied sullenly. "We're not gonna see another speck of Dust from his area again. See, this is why you don't rely on animals. They give into their natures, fuck things up, and then we all get in trouble."

"You might want to be careful with your insults Roman. Seeing as how you're surrounded by 'animals'." She replied as she led him down a hall.

"Well maybe if you got me someone _good_ from the White Fang, I wouldn't be so aggravated by their presence." He replied. "Let me guess. We're gonna have to break the bad news to lover boy."

"He's _not_ my lover. He's my employer."

"And that there, that's another grievance I have. Working alone, being my own boss, that was great. I got to make the plans, I got to choose the people, I got to steal the right amount of money…"

Cinder smiled. "And yet you always want more, don't you? Otherwise you'd never have joined us."

"True." He admitted. "But I prefer to take less risks with my money. An extra 10 grand does me no good if I end up in prison while trying to get it. So all of the above, is why I find it a little uncomfortable working for someone else." Cinder found her way blocked by his cane, the end pressed against the wall at head-height. Torchwick leaned in. "But it's also why I _hate_ being the subordinate of a subordinate." He growled. "If you want to _keep_ having my help - and god knows you need me – then I want equal partnership from now on."

She gave him a stern look, the kind that had men fearing for their lives. Roman didn't react. "You want to be my equal." She said slowly.

"I _am_ your equal." He gave her a thin smile. "Why not at least make it official?" He moved his cane away. "Think of it like this. You scratch _my_ back, I keep scratching yours."

She gave him an even thinner smile in return, caressing his cheek. "You really think that you could just walk away if things aren't to your liking?"

He didn't flinch. "I think you're at too critical a stage to try and call my possible bluff." They locked eyes for a while, trying to assess each other's true cards. But then she pulled her hand away with a huff. Torchwick smirked as they kept walking.

"I'll see what I can do. But the final decision goes to my employer. If he says no, then I suggest that you suck it up." She keyed a code into the door at the far end (making sure to stop Torchwick from seeing it), before leading him into a darkened room filled with screens. They were all showing different areas of Vale, some more protected than others. Torchwick raised an eyebrow at this guy's set-up. No wonder Cinder seemed to know everything. Her group had feelers practically everywhere. The screen directly in front of him had an information page up, though he couldn't see what it was about. Probably theoretical ways to use Dust. If he had to think big, that's what he'd go for.

Cinder gave a small cough, and the man looked up. He still faced away from them though, his identity hidden by his chair. "Cinder. What a pleasant surprise." The man said in a soft voice. "Are preparations nearly complete on your end?"

"As close as we can get Sir." Cinder replied, now all professional. "The number of thefts we have done has gotten some of our suppliers arrested. We keep at this any longer, and we might lead them straight to our door."

The man nodded. "Acceptable. We have more than enough Dust to satisfy my interests. Start winding down operations here. Make it appear that the government is winning." He changed one of the screens, showing the two of them in his office. Torchwick looked up to see some kind of mechanical bird watching them. It resembled some kind of crow, or Nevermore. "And I see you brought a guest."

Torchwick smiled. "Greetings. Roman Torchwick. Entrepreneur, collector, philanthropist, and friend of the needy."

The man chuckled to himself. "I suppose all of that is true, _if_ you know how to spin criminal well enough." He stopped laughing. "Outside of these walls you will address me as 'Master of the Crows'."

Torchwick nodded. "Fitting." He pointed at the drone. "I see that you're really going for a theme here. Now, down to business. You see, I'm a self-made man. And like all such men, I'm not really fond of being near the bottom of the pile. I tend to enjoy being right below the top dog. And if I enjoy something, I work much more efficiently."

Master of the Crows tapped the desk top. "Enough with the double speak. What is it that you want?"

"Equal position to Cinder." Torchwick responded immediately. "She gets to be your left hand, I get to be your right hand. How's that?" He gave Cinder a look, and she clenched her fists.

"He _has_ helped us gather so much Dust." She said. "Without his connections, we would not have so many willing to sell it to us. Or so many to take it."

"…Very well." Master of the Crows finally replied. "I suppose if your ego is so fragile, you can get your orders from me instead of Cinder. For now, do what I just told Cinder to inform everyone."

"Start lying low. Got it. Now how about we stop this cloak and dagger 'I'm-a-Mysterious-Stranger' vibe and actually talk face to face. Like how about that big payoff you're offering."

"Cinder hasn't told you?"

"All she said was that I'd have more money than I'd know what to do with. I'd like a little clarification, please." Master of the Crows pondered it, before his chair started rotating. Torchwick's eyebrows raised as high as they could once he saw his appearance.

Skin as grey as ash. Hair as black as oil. Amber eyes glowing like torches. Master of the Crows smirked as he saw Torchwick's expression.

"What if I said that I could make you part of a royal kingdom?" Prince Uldren Sov of the Reef asked.

* * *

Ti'ana sighed as she brought her ship to a complete halt, high above Remnant itself. The stars twinkled from the depths of space, and she could clearly see the fractured moon in all its broken glory. Up here, no one could listen in on them. There's been no record on anyone on Remnant achieving space travel of any kind. Satellites, yes. But they were beyond even them now. She engaged the autopilot again, holding them in their place, and moved back to the living quarters of the ship.

"How are their injuries?" She asked Light once she entered. Bianca and Katie were sitting on the chairs, facing Team RWBY who were sitting on her bed together. The Ghosts were hovering over them, beams flickering over their bodies. It had been Katie's idea. If their Ghosts could heal lethal damage on their own bodies, then logically they could do _something_ for the girls. She watched as the bruise on Blake's cheek faded away, leaving the skin unblemished.

Light turned off his beam, floating back to her. "Well they're gonna feel pretty stiff tomorrow. But I believe the expression is 'as fit as a fiddle'." Glad that they weren't injured anymore, she breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the table itself. The two teams stared at each other for several uncomfortable moments.

"So…" She started off awkwardly. "I guess we've got… a _few_ things to talk about."

"We do." Weiss replied, watching them suspiciously. "And we can start with you three. I've always thought there was something strange going on with you, but now this proves it. Your lies are completely shocking."

"We weren't planning on staying long enough to need them." Katie said. "But we ran into complications."

"So you admit it then. You're spies." Blake said tersely.

"We're not spies." Bianca said. "We're just not from here."

"So where _are_ you guys from then?" Yang asked. "Vacuo? Atlas? Mistral?" The three of them looked at each other before nodding.

"Tyrion. Show them." Bianca ordered. Her Ghost floated towards them, eye already flashing. An image of Remnant, the same view they had when they arrived, appeared before them.

"As you probably can already tell, this is Remnant as seen from space." Tyrion said. Then his beam widened, and a second almost identical planet appeared beside it. "And this is our world. Earth. A twin planet to Remnant if you will. Third rocks from the sun, 71% water, inhabited by the Human Race." Team RWBY stared at them with looks of shock.

"You… You're saying that you're aliens." Yang said slowly.

"Technically, yes." Ti'ana said. "Why don't we give the _true_ story about our world?" The others nodded in agreement.

And so, they told them everything, showing them images when applicable. Team RWBY learnt about the discovery of The Traveller on Mars, how He had terraformed the planet for them. How through Him, they learnt new ways to use technology. How they started spreading outwards through the solar system, inhabiting worlds previously too dangerous to live on. All the things the Golden Age provided.

And more importantly, about the arrival of The Darkness.

They watched in horror as the Ghosts went over the barest details of their defeat. Of their near-extinction. The survivors struggling and fighting to survive on their own planet. Of how it took centuries before they could build the Last City. Then he showed them their last mission. To enter the Black Garden. To kill its Heart. And how in doing so, they were pulled here by mistake.

All four girls were silent when they finished.

"Wow." Ruby breathed. "You've done so much." She looked downcast, as though she didn't know how she could ever hope to match their accomplishments.

"But… But… Why here?" Weiss spluttered. "Why did this 'Black Heart' drag you here?"

"We're not sure, but we might a possible idea." Light said. "It didn't take us long to realise that this world has also been visited by both the Traveller and the Darkness." They looked at him sceptically. "The Traveller gave your people their Aura and the Dust, while the Darkness left behind the Grimm to destroy your world."

"If it wanted us dead, why didn't it just do it?" Blake asked.

"It doesn't want _us_ dead. It wants the Traveller dead." Bianca explained. "The Traveller must've fled to try and draw it off, and it made the Grimm to do the job for it. But your people used your Light to fend them off." This was good news for them. It meant that there is still a possibility that they could win.

"So… Is that how those Hive things got on Remnant?" Weiss asked.

"We don't know for sure." Katie replied. "But I'm betting that's not your most _pressing_ question, is it?" Team RWBY looked at each other, nodding in agreement. "Alright then. Ask away."

"We saw you die…" Ruby and Blake started asking.

"How do we know we can believe you?" Weiss asked at the exact same time.

"What are you going to do with us?" Yang also asked. They looked at each other again as their questions muddled together. Ti'ana tapped at the wall behind her, and the viewport activated. Team RWBY reared back as they took in the view. The emptiness of space. Remnant arching beneath them. The moon so visible before them. At the same time, they all took off their helmets. The girls had already seen Bianca's face before, only slightly surprised that she was fully healed. Ti'ana's face, with startling blue skin and ethereal energy misting from it, got a reaction from them. But it was Katie that surprised them the most. Metal plates shifted as she turned her head, letting them see every detail of it. The light from her eyes was even more blinding than Ti'ana's, making it difficult to pick out the coils and gears that made up her eyeballs.

"You're… A machine." Blake said softly.

Katie nodded. "I am. I'm what we call an 'Exo'. A mechanical construct that somehow managed to develop self-awareness."

Ti'ana looked at Ruby. "Ruby. Remember when I said that my home colony had set themselves up far away from the Last City?" She nodded. "I didn't tell you the whole thing. The Awoken were people who tried to flee our solar system. We managed to get the furthest reaches of our known space but… Something happened. Changed us." She touched her skin. "Made us something else." She pulled her hand away. "And according to records, I left the Reef over 147 years ago." She gave a bit of sad smile. "Of course, I only spent about 30 odd years _alive_."

"You were dead?" They asked.

"With the exception of Katie, we were _all_ dead at some point." Bianca replied. "It was only because of our Ghosts that we're alive again."

The team looked at the hovering drones, understanding dawning on them. "These things are Ghosts?" Ruby asked.

"We are." Little Light answered. "Intelligences made by the Traveller to seek out those with an affinity to the Light. Sadly however, those with such affinity have been dead for a very long time. Thankfully, we have the ability to revive those we choose."

"How?" Weiss asked, curious. "If they were alive at the time, I _could_ believe that you simply create a copy of their personalities as clones. But how do you revive…?"

"Light." He replied. "Miss Schnee, for us Light is the answer to almost anything. With it, the Traveller turned inhospitable worlds with no atmospheres into places where people could live freely. It defies the laws of physics humans once thought were unmalleable." He bobbed, his version of a shrug. "Honestly, reviving the dead isn't the strangest thing Light can do."

"So that's how you came back. If you get killed again, your Ghosts just bring you back again." Yang summed up. "Handy. I can think of a few fights I'd like that kind of power for."

Bianca leaned forward and gave them a look. "Now. In answer to your _final_ question…" She took a deep breath. "All we want is to find Katie's ship, a way back home, and then we're out of here. The _only_ reason we're even here in the first place is that we got dragged here against our will." She clapped her hands together once. "So, if you guys could help us stay secret for just a bit longer – _and_ keep an ear out for any strange craft that have crashed recently – then that's all we'll ask of you. Alright?"

Team RWBY looked at each other for several seconds, before nodding in agreement. Ti'ana silently cheered.

Just a bit longer. Just a bit longer and they may finally be able to return home.

* * *

Ironwood read the report he had been handed just a few minutes ago. The things it said were troubling to him. Explosions in Vale's warehouses. Bodies found dead in scores. Walls shattered, melted, and even gone altogether. Copious amounts of blood everywhere.

And reports of a team of three women, boarding a ship that went straight upwards further than any system could track.

Ozpin was a good man. He was a loyal man, with a good heart, a good head, and willing to do anything to defend the peace. But in times like this, with a highly likely enemy walking free, his desire for knowledge would put them all in jeopardy. Though they _could_ learn much from watching killers walk free… Was the cost of lives worth it?

"Penny." He said aloud, looking up from his report. The young girl stood up, turning away from the spinning globe before her and facing him. "Have you managed to get this machine working properly?"

"Almost, Mr Ironwood Sir." Penny said cheerfully. "The Servitor has always been working. It just needed someone to talk to." She gave it a nervous glance though, eyes lingering on the holes they had cut into its sides to access all core functions. There had been a few… mishaps along the way. It was to be expected, when working with alien technology. But they were making breakthroughs now. Major breakthroughs.

"How long before this vessel is fully operational?" He asked. Penny stood stock still, eyes fluttering as she computed.

"The engines themselves are operational right now. We can take off and fly at any time. But the warp drives took some damage in your fight with the crew. It'll be at least another month before we can begin fixing them."

He nodded. That was better than what his lab boys told him the day before. "What if you had another functional warp drive and someone who knows how to work it?"

"That would likely take us down to an estimated two weeks. Do you really have both of those?"

"I have the warp drive right now. Give me a couple of days, and I can get you our 'expert'. For now, see if you can decipher their maps. They may hold clues as to possible outposts."

Yes Sir." Penny saluted him before turning back to the servitor. Confident that she was hard at work, he turned back to his scroll. A soldier under his command appeared on screen.

"Agent Schwartz. Have you studied all information about the Guardians?" He asked.

"Yes Sir." The masked soldier replied calmly, his voice hidden by a voice modifier. "My analysis is that we need to focus on them one at a time. Divide and conquer. I already have plans for capturing one of them right now."

"Any possible security risks?"

"One, regrettably. In order to get her in our trap, I'll need to lure her down here." Ironwood stopped walking and pondered. On one hand, showing them that they had this technology could be catastrophic. She may know how to work it better than they do, even how to turn it against them.

But if doing so could get them _real_ answers…

He nodded. "Proceed Agent. Lure one of them down here ASAP. Don't take risks, but try not to kill her. I want to at least give her a chance to talk willingly first."

"Understood." Agent Schwartz nodded, before signing off. Ironwood placed his scroll in his pocket, trading it for his trusty flask. He stopped walking outside the large window before him, studying the cave walls around him. A large, pointed bow stretched outwards before him.

With the help of the Guardians, willing or otherwise, this 'Ketch' could be the lynchpin of their global defences against Grimm, terrorists…

Or aliens.

* * *

**Whew. Finally got this chapter finished. Parts of it still don't feel right to me, particularly the scene on board the Phaeton with the questioning, but it'll do. I could probably work on this for years and still feel that something's off.**

**But yeah, now things are getting more intense. Team RWBY learn that Guardians can come back from the dead. Cinder is actually working for Prince Uldren of the Reef. Ironwood has a Ketch and is planning on capturing one of our heroines. Big moments all around.**

**Now, I'm sure some of you are wondering how Uldren (formally known as The Queen's Brother) got the Remnant in the first place. Well obviously the Black Heart isn't the only way to Remnant. It's just how our heroines got there. And I'm sure he'd love to have lots of Dust for the Reef. Given what it can do, who wouldn't?**

**Hope you guys (and girls) all enjoyed this chapter. Hopefully I can do just as good a job with the next part.**


	8. A Ketch? This Close to the Surface?

**Chapter 8: A Ketch? This Close to the Surface?**

* * *

Ruby Rose stood outside the Guardians' door, hand raised to knock on the wood. She took a deep breath, willing herself to have the courage to finally move. Her raised hand trembled, trying to respond to her command to knock. A simple action, an easy action.

So why has it taken her the better part of an hour to even pluck up the courage to do so?

Deep down, she knew why. Shame. She felt ashamed by the disaster last night. While stopping the Red Lotus and Remus was definitely a good thing, she hadn't been completely focused on that. She had also hoped to have impressed Ti'ana with her actions. Maybe even enough to get her to call for a Ghost to come and choose her. Weiss had been right. They should've just called for help. Let the law enforcement deal with him, or the Atlesian army that had shown up at Beacon recently. But because she wouldn't listen, because she wanted to be impressive, the whole thing nearly ended in disaster. If it weren't for the Guardians, if it weren't for their resurrective immortality…

Her hand quietly knocked once against the door. So quiet that even she was certain she had done it. But the doorknob started turning, and a lone electronic eye peeked out at her. The door quickly closed again, and her heart sank. So Ti'ana _didn't_ want to talk to her then. She understood. She'll just… Wallow in self-pity. She turned away to head for her room, but she heard the door open again and felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Ti'ana holding her back, her expression hidden behind her helmet. Did the lights blink faster now? Was it some sign of her expression, fast for anger and slow for disappointment? But Ti'ana nodded and walked back into her room, the invitation clear. Ruby followed her inside, scuffing her boots as a part of herself held her back. The Ghost, Little Light, closed the door behind her. A faint music, unknown to her, was playing softly in the background. The walls were covered by images of the local area, Remnant floating amongst them. Hovering over the desk was the dismantled blueprint of a sniper rifle. Ti'ana's helmet vanished into light, her white hair swaying in the slight breeze. She sat down at the desk again, fingers probing the blueprints and pulling pieces apart. Ruby stood in the middle of the room, silent and fidgety.

One minute became two. Then five. And still they didn't speak. Ti'ana kept working over the blueprints until she was certain that all parts would work properly. Light slotted the blueprints back together again into a single whole, before materials filled in the frame like paint. In only a few seconds, she was holding onto a sniper rifle, checking it over. Once she was certain that it was fully functional, the rifle vanished into thin air. Only then did she turn to face Ruby. The young Huntress looked away from those glowing blue eyes.

"I… I…" She tried to say. Her voice was so quiet, so meek. She swallowed, and tried again. "I-I-I… I'm…"

"Sorry?" Ti'ana offered, a slight sad smile on her face. That lone word, along with her expression, finally broke the dam on Ruby's inner feelings.

"I'm really, really, really, really, really, really, really, _really, really, really _sorry!" She practically shouted. "What I did was stupid, dangerous, and suicidal. I nearly got my entire team killed just to try and impress you, to try and get chosen as a Guardian. I made you guys reveal your secret, and risk your lives, and honestly I wouldn't be surprised if you hated me and never wanted to…" She stopped as Ti'ana held a hand to her face, silencing her without being forceful.

"Ruby, it's alright." She said. "Guardians have done stupider things than that, and the only reason our order is still standing is _because_ we can always come back. I just want you to promise me that you'll never do something like that _ever_ again."

"_And_ promise that you'll stop trying to become a Guardian." Little Light added. "Since there's not a single ghost on Remnant aside from yours truly."

Ruby sniffled, wiping away tears. "I promise." She looked at all the images around them, questions burning a hole inside of her. But she stayed silent, no matter how much she wanted to ask. Ti'ana saw where her gaze was.

"Been trying to figure out where Katie's ship crashed." She explained, pointing to the image of the globe. The planet rotated until it was showing Vale, and three coloured lines approached the surface. A red line, a blue line, and a green line. The red line ended up hovering over Vale itself, while the green line landed in the Forever Fall Forest. Only the blue line didn't land anywhere, just stopping in mid-air. "Since the transponder's still not responding, guesswork is all we've got right now."

"Even with algorithms, there's still around a few hundred miles of land it could've crashed, assuming it's even in workable condition or didn't explode on impact." Light added, eye projecting a news feed on the wall. "Though I'm fairly certain that someone might've noticed an exploding ship."

Ruby looked around, noticed the absence of certain people. "Hey, where are Katie and Bianca?"

"Out scouting the Demeter Settlement. It could be a lead on getting ourselves back home." Ti'ana replied.

"Really? How?" Ruby asked. Little Light moved before, eye projecting an image of a copper mechanical man. Its arms and legs were spindly, and it had a giant crest on its head like a crown. Glaring at her was a single red eye.

"As we previously informed you, the Vex are experts at moving through time and space as easily as we move across the land." He said. "If coded properly, one of their transfer gates could hopefully allow us a way back to our own world." He gave her a look. "And it can certainly be mistaken for a Cyclops, if you've never seen one before."

Oh. The Cyclops idol of Demeter. It happened so long ago that Ruby always assumed that it was just a tall tale. To think that it was another sign that they had met other life… Though from what Ti'ana told her, the Vex aren't the friendliest form of life out there.

"Sooo…" She started saying. "What are we planning on doing about that guy Bloodoak mentioned? Are we gonna stop him or something? I mean, you seemed to know him or something…"

"_We_ aren't doing anything right now." Ti'ana interrupted. "Right now, my team is trying to find our last ship before it falls into the wrong hands, and then figure out a way home in case we only have a short window or something. _Your_ _team_, on the other hand, are going to have a few days' rest, focus on your studies, and don't do anything stupid. Let everyone else worry about Torchwick and his boss. If we have time, we _might_ help stop him. But right now, we're a little bit busy to hunt down your crooks for you. Let the law deal with them instead."

"Oh. Ok." Ruby said in a small voice. "I'll just… go now." She quickly left the room, too quickly to see Ti'ana rest her head against the desk top.

* * *

Ti'ana sighed heavily as she slammed her head against the desk over and over again. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Why is it that everytime she tried to make things better, she just ended up making them worse? It was like a curse or something.

"Light. Please tell me that there's something to distract me right now." She grumbled.

"Nothing as of this moment. I guess you'll just have to live with your feelings of inadequacy and inability to not terrorise little girls." He replied smarmily. She looked up just long enough to glare at him before going back to hitting her head over and over again. Any possible bruise she'd suffer from this would heal before she even got started. Another perk of being a Guardian. "Hold on." She stopped as he said that. "Just found a coded message. Location unknown. Hexabyte encryption."

"Can you decrypt it?"

"Pfft. Can I decrypt it? Can you punch things in the face? Give me a second to work." His outer shell rotated as he worked on the code, on screen, she saw words spinning and numbers changing faster than she could keep track. "Done." He said a few seconds later. "Hmm. Interesting."

"What?"

"It's a memo discussing a captured vessel. They're making plans on either transferring it to a new location, or increasing security. Sounds a bit like they're going for more security."

"So either it _has_ to stay where it is…"

"Or it's too noticeable to move." He finished. "Hang on. Let me just dig around a bit for this… 'Fallen Warship'." He looked at her, eye wide. Her expression probably matched his own. While it _might_ be possible that it means something else, given how they've already fought The Hive and heard of Vex on this world…

He quickly got to work hacking the systems for the warship, cracking codes and firewalls like they weren't even there. It didn't take him long to bring up the classified files. On screen, it showed a picture of a Fallen Ketch, undamaged and docked in some form of cave system. Small figures, wearing the white uniform of Atlas, stood around it like ants. There was another picture attached to it, showing a dead Fallen Vandal. Careful notes were made of the highly authentic cybernetic arms.

"Little Light? Where exactly is the Ketch right now?" She finally asked.

"According to the files, right where it had landed. Over 20 miles below beacon Academy." He replied. "There's also a follow-up files attached to this. According to the attachment, this one was made only five days ago. It has to be Katie's ship."

"Get in contact with them. Then start cracking that file. We need to know what they've learnt." She ordered. Her radio blinked as Light got in contact with his fellow Ghosts. It didn't take long for a connection to be made.

"Hey Ti'ana." Katie responded. "If you're checking up on our progress, don't bother. The military bombarded it to slag when they couldn't force the Vex out by hand. Even their tech can't handle over an hour of straight bombardment."

"Forget about the Vex. We've got bigger problems." She said hurriedly. "Atlas has access to a Fallen Ketch."

"What? How?" Bianca interrupted.

"I don't know. Maybe some Hunters ran into Fallen, and had to fight to defend themselves or something." Light started blinking, and she looked up to see him projecting a new image on screen. It was inside a large hanger, all sleek white walls and grey lines. In the center of the room was a mashed-up blue vessel. The nose was crumpled, jagged metal sticking out of the bottom of the ship. One engine had been sheared off, but still vaguely recognisable as being pointed with two long metal wings sticking out the back. "And we can now confirm that they have what's left of Katie's ship."

"Wait, what's _left?!_" Katie nearly shouted. "What the hell happened to my ship?"

"It crashed. I thought we already knew that." She heard Dinklebot say.

"It's… pretty banged up." Ti'ana admitted. "Whatever happens, I don't think we'll be flying it back to Beacon anytime soon."

"And that's not including whatever damage Atlas did to it whilst studying whatever survived the crash." Light added.

"Where is it?" Bianca asked.

"No idea. They haven't listed its location. But if Atlas is busy studying the Ketch…"

"They might have computers we could access. Is there some way down to the Ketch from Beacon?" Light brought up a cross section of Beacon and the mountain it was built on. He quickly picked out a lone tunnel going almost straight down."

"Yep. Though I think we're probably gonna have to resurrect a lot on the way down." Ti'ana answered.

* * *

Ti'ana grunted as she landed feet first on the ground, her Lift ability managing to slow her down enough to make the last fall manageable. Katie was next, her glide allowing her to simply float down the tunnel. Bianca stopped herself from screaming as her triple jump ended up being too high, and she slammed into the ground hard enough to kill her. Ti'ana quickly resurrected her, and they quickly snuck further forward until they reached a lip hanging over a path below. Before them, lit up by several low-set floodlights, was the Ketch itself. The prow jutted far into the darkness, and several spikes seemed almost to be driven into the walls.

They all distantly noted that the entire area, though there were signs that people had been here, was completely empty now.

"Ok. Let's move." Ti'ana said, dropping down from the lip. She twisted round as soon as she landed, watching for any sign of movement. But nothing reacted to their presence. It was as quiet as a grave.

_Lovely imagery there._ She thought as the others dropped down. Guns at the ready, they quickly covered the open space between them and the cargo bay of the Ketch. They ran the whole way, sneaking around what little stuff was still being stored on-deck, and still they hadn't run into anyone. Simple unease started becoming worse. Surely they would've run into _someone_ by now. It couldn't just be that everyone's on break or something.

"Light, bring up the list of security measures they were implementing.' She hissed. On her HUD, a list of different systems started popping up. Just as they came up, her radar picked up movement up ahead. The three of them quickly hid by the walls, pressed up against it as something walked towards them. A loud beep, and then three guards passed them, one storing his card in his jacket. The Guardians nodded at each other, and moved quietly after them. A few quick jabs to the back of the head, and all three guards were left unconscious. Grabbing the guard's card, Katie waved it in front of a panel while Bianca and Ti'ana carried the guards. They entered the cargo bay just in time, red lines lighting up behind them. It was easy to find an out-of-the-way area right underneath the stairs, and then moving a few crates to hide them. Then double-time up the stairs, covering it from both paths. It was inside that things were going to get trickier.

"According to the files we read, they've got a barracks set up in the starboard side of the ship." Ti'ana said. "A patrol should be covering this hallway in five minutes." She pointed down a hallway leading to the left, the door seemingly locked. "We'll have to go that way around them. In the meantime, we need to keep an eye out for any monitor that our Ghosts can access." The other two nodded, Bianca taking the lead down the hallway. Surprisingly, the door opened obediently for them as they approached. Checking down both pathways, Bianca signalled for the others to approach. Thanks to Ti'ana's directions, they avoided a mine-filled hallway. They were just going past a room resembling a stripped armoury when Tyrion appeared before her.

"I'm detecting an active feed coming from a monitor two rooms ahead." He said. The only problem: According to Light's notes, the only way to it is covered in lasers." They looked further ahead to see red beams crossing the hall at odd angles. "Setting them off could bring everyone down on our heads."

"Could _you_ sneak past them?" Bianca asked, stepping closer to the lasers. But then the door behind her slammed shut, the light turning red as alarms sounded. Bianca slammed her fist against the door, but honestly she wasn't sure what she was expecting. Even Ti'ana would have trouble punching her way out of this. She cursed loudly. "Ti'ana, Katie. Report."

"Something's wrong." Ti'ana said obviously. "There wasn't any mention of this in the plans."

"We need to pull out. Now."

"No. Katie objected. "If Atlas has my ship, then they could learn more about our worlds. About our technology. I don't know if we have rules against stuff like this, but I don't think I'd feel good letting a nation take over with tech a century or two ahead of everyone else."

"You want me to keep going?" Bianca asked incredulously.

"We might _never_ get another chance like this." Ti'ana said. "Like it or not, we don't have a choice."

Bianca growled. But she was aware that the longer they spent arguing, the more likely they'd be captured. "Fine. You two stick together. Draw their attention or something. Keep them busy. I'll contact you guys when I'm out." She turned towards the lasers. "Well Tyrion? Can you make it?"

"Of course." He replied. "But it's probably faster to just shoot them out. It's not like we're trying to sneak around anymore."

"Point." She replied, shooting off her hand cannon. The grenades they were attached to exploded one by one, her vision flashing once she was done. As soon as she could see again, she was already running towards the waypoint Tyrion made for her. She followed the passageways as best as she could, tension rising at every turn. She expected to run into _someone_ out here. Maybe her teammates were keeping everyone busy.

But that still didn't explain why the door had locked itself after her…

* * *

"Come and get some!" Ti'ana yelled as she ran, firing her scout rifle at the walls as she ran. Inside though, her mind was awhirl with worries and questions. What the hell happened? What was going on? They had turned round to find a few guards rounding the corner, guns rising for combat. Ti'ana smashed the helmet of one with her fist, sending him crashing against the wall before shooting the second man in the leg and smashing the stock of her rifle into his chin. Meanwhile, Katie had pushed back the third guard, setting his suit on fire and forcing him to roll and beat it out. Then they legged it, heading back the way they came. When they passed by a door that had previously found locked, it opened to reveal more soldiers. They both fired wildly at them, forcing them to duck as the Guardians ran past. The guards fired on them as they ran, their bullets blocked by shields. They rounded the corner again, only to find their exit locked.

"Something's watching us." Katie finally understood. "They must be watching us through cameras or something." She turned around on the spot, as though she could try and spot them in the roof.

"I'm detecting movement heading straight for us. Through this door." Light said urgently. Ti'ana cursed, pushing away from the door and running the other way. She bowled over the guards that had been following them, allowing Katie to toss a grenade behind her as she ran. The guards behind the door yelled as the door closed again, before the explosion sounded. A flaming orb radiated on the floor, melting the door slightly from its presence.

Well, no one's going through _that_ door anytime soon.

"Dinklebot. Plot us a new course out of this place." She ordered. The sooner they were outside the Ketch, the sooner they could get out of reach of their mysterious watcher. Evidently, Ti'ana had the same idea. She was going the same way Dinklebot was plotting for them. At the end of the hall was an open door. Their directions had them turning before it…

A dozen guards came running, standing just before the doorway with their weapons ready. There were too many for them to weather. Ti'ana could maybe survive it, but Katie wouldn't last half the distance. They didn't want to kill anyone, but it looked like they might have to defend themselves. She pulled out her fusion rifle, charge readying…

With a yell and Arc energy forming around her front, Ti'ana charged straight into the group, her momentum, knocking them like skittles. But the door closed behind her, cutting them both off from each other. The left door opened, and more guards charged out to block her off. Left with no choice, she fired off her fusion rifle, killing half the men and forcing the others to duck. She fired off a second volley to discourage the survivors, and then legged it down the remaining hallway. This was probably what Atlas wanted. The three of them separated, easy pickings for their larger forces. The only thing working in their favour was that Guardians were good at wiping out larger forces.

"We're approaching one of the hanger bays. Whatever they've got planned for us will likely happen in there." Dinklebot said.

"You think so?"

"Four ways in and out on the ground floor. More higher up. Large space with likely few points of cover. That's my theory anyway."

"Lovely." She ran through the final door to find a large squarish room, lit up by bright lights. Crates, half of them opened, littered the ground. A quick look around the room showed that all the doors were locked, as Dinklebot predicted. "How long would it take for something to happen?"

"Seconds, minutes? It depends on how much attention our teammates require." His eye blinked. "Huh. Hold on. I'm detecting some Light from there." He floated closer to a box, half hidden by other crates. When she opened it, inside was a glowing Arc orb.

"What is it?"

"I… I think it might be a sub-class."

"A Stormcaller class? All the way out here?" She had heard of the mysterious order of Warlocks before, but back during the first founding of the Last City. She thought that they had gone all nomadic during the Foundry Wars. How did the Light of one end up here on this Ketch? They _really_ need to find out who this ship belonged to. A clanking sound brought her back to the present. "Nevermind that. Can we use it?"

"The Light is weak. I'd say that we'd get one shot of its Super. Once it's gone, it's gone. Time it wisely." She thrust her hand into the orb, feeling Arc energy flowing up and down her arm. Her HUD changed, her new abilities charging. She quickly had Dinklebot bring up a list of the Stormcaller abilities, eyebrow raised in surprise. There were… several useful abilities in here. At the very least, the Stormtrance looked highly useful. She quickly chose several perks, hoping that they'd be enough. Arcbolt grenade; Superconductor; Chain Lightning; Feedback (having a melee charge will always be useful); and Perpetual Charge.

"Alright then. Ready on my end. Start getting the door opened." She ordered. Her waypoint told her to exit through the far door. Dinklebot already moved to start zapping it open.

"Something's fighting back." He said. "Probably our mystery watcher. This may take longer than expected."

"Can you beat her?"

"Please. I managed to hack the Vex cognitive mesh, the Hive's World Grave, and Cabal transmissions. I think I can handle a human using old Fallen tech." he boasted. An alarm sounded behind them, and Katie turned to see the other doors opening. Shanks, dozens of them, flew towards them, guns blazing.

She scoffed. Loads of easily killed enemies, against a gun that instantly reloaded every time she killed something? This was going to be nothing but clean-up.

* * *

"Shit!" Ti'ana shouted, punching the door as it closed behind her. Katie was stuck on the other side, cut off from her. "Light, get this damn door open."

"No time." He responded. "I've picked up movement all around us. Unless you want to kill more of these soldiers, I'm afraid that we're going to have to run."

"Traveller-damned Atlas." She cursed as she ran. "What the hell is going on here? Why was none of this mentioned in that report?"

"I think I might have an idea. Ever since I found that coded report, something's been niggling at me. I think it wasn't an accident that we found out about the Ketch. Or Katie's ship."

"…It was a set-up." Ti'ana realised. "They _wanted_ us to find out about this."

"And therefore lure us into a location where they hold all the cards. Or so they think."

Ti'ana groaned as she ran into another dead end, the sound of men racing after her echoing down the halls. She tossed a grenade behind her, a bright flash and loud bang echoing. Followed by the shouts of the men. Whether it was shouts of pain or surprise, she honestly didn't care anymore. While she didn't want to kill anyone, if any of her team got captured she was tearing Atlas's base to shreds with her bare hands. She raced past them and turned in the other direction.

"Stop." Light said as she passed another locked door. "This is our stop." He started zapping at the door's controls.

"This'll get us out of the Ketch?" Funny, she didn't think she ran far enough.

"Not yet. But it's a start." Yelling sounded behind her. She quickly turned and started shooting. A bullet went through a soldier's shoulder, but the rest all backed away quickly, dragging their injured companion out of the line of fire. "And… done." She quickly backed through the open door, Light locking it again behind her. "That should slow them down for a moment."

"Then let's get moving." She replied, already running again. She found herself in a large cargo bay, the room mostly empty save for a deactivated Devil Walker in the center of the room. "Alright. Which way now?"

"Let me think." Light said hurriedly, spinning on the spot. He stopped before the North door. "That one. That's our ticket out." He started zapping at it, Ti'ana watching for trouble and her gun at the ready. "Huh. That's strange."

"What now?" She asked in exasperation, turning to face him. She has had enough crap from this place. Right now, she wanted to get Katie's ship and get out of here.

"The door controls are linked to something else. It's in this room, but that's all I can tell at the moment."

"In this room…" A whirring sound started behind her. She rolled her eyes. "Is it possibly… the tank?" She turned to see the Devil Walker moving again, revealing the Atlas tech attached to its shell. The lights glowed brightly as it stood and faced her, looking very fearsome.

"Well that's what _I'd_ link it to if I had to choose." Light said, flitting back towards her. The Walker crouched low, the cannon charging and pointed straight at her.

Ti'ana ran to cover as the shell fired.

* * *

Penny hummed as she manipulated the Servitor, and by extension the ship. Beside her were Agent Schwartz and General Ironwood, watching everything from the screens they had installed.

"It seems that they've taken the bait." Ironwood said, watching the three Guardians drop in from above. He was surprised that they had arrived from that direction. There was nothing but a long drop above. "Have the men moved to their assigned locations?"

"Yes Sir." Penny answered, changing the other screens to show soldiers lying in wait. On the main screen, they watched the Guardians lying in wait for the team patrolling that area. The team deactivated the sensors attached to the door, and then were ambushed. Their leader, Ti'ana, grabbed the card and waved it over the sensor again, gaining access.

"Hmm. They seem to have the means of detecting approaching enemies. Some form of localised radar perhaps?" Ironwood wondered.

"Make sense Sir. Having a way to keep track of all directions would be a useful skill in the field." Agent Schwartz said. Ironwood knew he was watching, learning everything he could about his prey. It was what made him a great Grimm hunter before. It's what made him an excellent agent now. They watched as the Guardians went left, avoiding the fake barracks mentioned in the report. Good. They _did _read it. That will help them co-ordinate their movements better, plot where to set up their traps. They watched as they avoided the mine-filled hallway before their team could make their move. "Penny. Activate the console in the map room. Start the traps."

"Aye aye, Sir." She responded cheerfully. Immediately the Hunter of their group moved forward before the others, heading towards the laser hallway. No doubt she was the first to have picked up the signal, having been the closest. "Closing door… now." The door closed behind her. The two screens showed both teams hitting the door. At the same time, Penny engaged the alarm. The soldiers closest moved to engage the Titan and the Warlock, to herd them away from each other. Surprisingly, they still seemed to be in contact with each other. And they seemed to be arguing for continuing their infiltration. Likely the ship _did_ belong to them. While the Hunter kept moving towards the active console, the Titan and the Warlock started running for the exit, apparently drawing attention to them. "And Project: Wolfhunt has begun."

"Team Alpha, ready yourselves. The Hunter is still continuing to your location." Schwartz ordered. "Team Beta, hound the other two. Team Charlie, engage." As soon as he said that, he saw Team Charlie meet the enemy. The Titan quickly took out two members, while the warlock set the third on fire. He could see General Ironwood wincing beside him as his soldiers were injured. He could understand his pain. But if these Guardians were elite agents of this 'Traveller', then they had to use every tool in their arsenal to detain them. "Team Delta, they're passing by your location. Proceed to engage." Penny unlocked the door, Delta moving out as the Guardians ran past. Their aim, mostly adequate, was easily stopped by the Guardians' shields. "Follow them. Cut them off and surround them with team Epsilon." The Guardians ran into the now-locked door, seemingly understanding that they were trapped. They then ran back the way they came, the Titan scattering Delta as she passed. "Epsilon, move in." Penny had barely opened the door before the Warlock tossed a grenade, a pulsating ball of fire forming in the doorway. Epsilon backed away as they were scorched, Penny closing the door for them. They watched as the metal melted from the presence of the fireball. Schwartz gritted his teeth. These Guardians were highly skilled prey. This will not be easy. He spoke into his comms again. "Team Foxtrot, they are heading towards you. We are funnelling them as we speak." He turned towards the robot girl. "Penny, lock the doors besides Foxtrot's."

"Yes sir." The light on the other doors turned red, sealed and inoperable. Only the straight-most door, Foxtrot's door, remained unlocked. As the Guardians headed towards it, Penny opened it to reveal Foxtrot. They were of sufficient number to stop just the two of…

A glowing blue nexus formed around the Titan's armour, before she charged through Foxtrot. The soldiers she collided directly with were thrown backwards, their vital signs lost. The rest she merely clipped, throwing them around like ragdolls. But there was an opening. "Seal the door. Separate them immediately." Penny did as commanded, the door closing as the other two opened. "Team Gamma, engage now!" Gamma moved out, firing as they ran. The Warlock pulled a strange stubbed gun from her back, the casing shaking before it fired several energy nodes. He immediately recognised it as similar to the guns they found onboard this ship, and they appeared just as lethal. Gamma was halved instantly, and the survivors were injured. The Warlock finished them off as she ran down the remaining hall, heading towards an ambush. "Lock down all the doors in the hanger bay. I don't want her escaping from there." At the same time, he turned to a screen showing the Titan. She was beating on the sealed door. "Teams Hellzone, Ingrid, Javelin. Surround the Titan. Detain her if you can, herd her if you can't." the teams started racing towards the Titan, but her radar must've picked them up. As they approached, she started running again. The teams cornered her in a dead end, but she tossed a grenade back. They were blinded and deafened by the grenade, assuming they weren't killed or injured by it. She raced past them and took the other direction. He cursed audibly now. "Kakarot, she's slipped past the others. Open fire at her.

"These Guardians are tougher than we expected." General Ironwood noted. They watched as the Titan stopped before a random door. He watched in confusion. "Why is she at _that_ door?"

"That door is the quickest path off the ship as of this moment." Penny explained. The Servitor started making noises, twisting wildly. "Uh oh." Penny said nervously.

"What exactly is 'uh oh'?" Schwartz asked menacingly.

"Both the Titan _and_ the Warlock are somehow hacking the systems. We're trying to stop them, but they're breaking through every defence I'm putting up." Her fingers tapped wildly at the holo controls before her. They looked up at the screens, watching both of them at work. The Titan scared off Kakarot, wounding one of the men. But the Warlock…

"She's in the ambush site. Get those drones moving." Schwartz ordered.

"Understood. Deploying Shanks." Penny said, tapping at the controls. The doors around her opened, and the flying drones they recovered flew towards the Warlock. She simply took cover and started shooting accurately. Her gun fired three-round bursts, tearing into the drones easily. Seven of them littered the floor, but luckily more were taking their place.

But what worried Schwartz the most was that she didn't have to reload. Given the size of her magazine, she'd have to reload by now.

"Uh, Agent Schwartz?" Penny asked nervously. "The Titan has reached the second ambush site."

He turned to look at her. "Can the drones function without your control?"

"Yes Sir. In fact, they're already functioning without any added directions."

He nodded. "Then engage the tank. We _can't_ any of them escape."

"Activating tank." She said. They watched as the Titan turned, watching the modified behemoth start up. "Firing main cannon." The Titan dodged as it fired, barely making it to cover. She immediately popped out of cover long enough to start shooting at the legs.

Something went cold inside of him. According to Penny's data, the legs were suffering higher damage than expected. The panels were becoming dented under the onslaught. Have they engaged against this kind of target before? Enough to know its weak spots and behaviours? A flash of blue startled him, coming from the Warlock's screen. She was coursing with lightning, bolts arcing across the drones. Any and all drones it touched were being disintegrated. He turned back to the Titan to see the tank damaged and crouched. A glowing red engine was poking out. "What the hell are you doing?" He said to Penny.

"I can't help it Sir. The damage has caused the engines to overheat. It needs to cool down before it can start up again."

"And in the meantime you're leaving vital components at the mercy of our target." He growled.

"Blame the previous owners. It's hard-coded into the system. We can't get rid of it without ripping out the entire system." She tapped away at the controls, somehow speeding up recovery. The tank stood up again, engine sliding under cover. It started shooting wildly, forcing the Titan behind cover again. He cursed again as he tapped into Comms. "Team Lake, move in to cover the tank. Make sure she doesn't get an opening to finish it." He stalked away, grabbing his rifle. "All remaining teams, I want you to engage the final Guardian. Shepherd her towards the kill-zone. Weapons free. Penny, do whatever it takes to stop her from accessing those systems."

"Agent." General Ironwood called out as he left. "Remember that we need one of them _alive_. Is that understood?"

"Crystal clear." He muttered to himself.

* * *

Bianca kept running, barely stopping in time to follow the waypoint. Getting to that monitor was her top priority. Everything else, except for her personal safety, was secondary. She slid underneath a series of lasers at around waist-height, the beams passing just over her upturned helmet. Getting back to her feet, she barely slowed as she raced past an opened doorway, a soldier running through. She buried a blade in his arm, pushing him aside as she went. By the time his friends had joined him and started shooting, she had already moved to the next ambush.

"It's too big a coincidence that a monitor activated in time to separate us." Tyrion said. "It was just bait to lure us away."

"Well then, let's show them why you shouldn't offer such shiny bait." She replied, spotting another soldier approaching. Too far for her to kill right now. She fired a couple of shots wildly, both going wide. But the loud bang still startled him, making him duck. When he came back up, they were still too far for an ordinary attack.

But she was a Bladedancer right now.

She teleported the short distance, blade buried in his neck. She pulled it out as she ran past, blood gushing to the ceiling. She'll feel bad for killing him later, but right now she didn't have time. She had to take another turn, a locked door in her path. She dimly noted that they were herding her towards the monitor, supporting their theory. Well, she'll make them regret it.

She ran through another door, ending up in a room filled with monitors. The images blurred at the edges as she passed by, the screens some kind of crystal or something. She found the active monitor quickly. "Tyrion, grab everything you can from this thing." She held her hand out, her Ghost floating towards the screen. His eye projected a beam that interlaced with the screen.

"Looks like our new 'friend' has gotten wise to us." He said. "They're pulling out everything they've got to stop me. Not a problem." Barely a minute later, he beeped again. "Done. You were right. They had _real_ data stored on this system. According to them, Katie's ship is stored on an Atlas base not far from here."

"And our watcher?"

"Set up in the Bridge. I think they're interfacing with the Servitor. Must be the proto-Exo girl we fought before."

"Mark a beeline to her. If we can stop her, we might be able to…" She was interrupted as her radar flashed red. All around her. She looked up to see Atlesian soldiers filling the balcony above. At the very front was a man dressed in all black, red lines lighting him up.

"Escape?" he said. "No. None of you are getting away from me. I _will_ capture each and every last one of you Guardians." He turned to his team. "Bring her…" Bianca interrupted him, firing off her hand cannon. The round slammed into his Aura, knocking him back as the other soldiers started blasting. She noted that they were carrying Fallen weapons. Wire rifles, shock pistols and rifles. She even saw several shock grenades strapped to their waists. Moving quickly, she tried to hide behind some cover. Just long enough for her shields to regenerate and for her to pick off some enemies. But there were so many of them, firing from every angle. Arc bolts always managed to circle round to strike her, and they flushed her out with grenades.

Fine then. They wanted a fight? They're getting one.

She jumped up towards the balcony, ignoring the shots peppering her as she got close. Once she was within range, she teleported towards the nearest soldier, driving her blade into his skull. Immediately, her shields started regenerating from the concussive force behind the kill. Or however they did it. The other men learnt quickly that Fallen weapons were not built for close range fighting. She fired her hand cannon at point blank range, before driving her blade into another soldier's neck and dodging a third. She spotted their leader pushing his way towards her, likely wanting to do everything he could to stop her. At the same time, her Super meter glowed gold.

Her body arced with Arc energy, and she started tearing through the soldiers with ease. They all yelled and shouted and fought to survive. But her blades carved through them with utmost ease as she fired long lines of energy forward. The bodies vanished as they were disintegrated, clearing her more of a path. As the charge wore off, she switched to her sniper rifle, letting it fold up to its more compact crossbow form. She pointed at the other side of the room, firing off bolt after bolt even as she kept moving. At the same time, she tossed an Arcbolt grenade, letting the lightning chain to other enemies.

By now, their leader had made it to her position. He lashed out at her with an Arc sword, only being blocked by her knife just in time. They blocked like this for several seconds, until he shattered her blade through sheer force. She pulled out a second blade and kept blocking, pulling out her hand cannon and firing it at point blank range. He was either incredibly lucky or incredibly skilled to have dodged the shot, pulling out his own gun and slamming it into her chest. He fired it again and again, her shield suffering under the onslaught. She jumped away from him towards another soldier, who stumbled back as he tried to run. She slammed her blade into his skull, just as the leader slammed into _her_. They were both thrown to the ground below, but she managed to roll to her feet.

"Open fire!" The leader shouted as he got to his feet. Knowing that she didn't have much time, she pulled out her machine gun and started firing, the slow rate of fire allowing her to control her recoil and keep firing at the men. Those who weren't cut down dropped to the ground, avoiding her fire. The symbol of a grenade appeared in her HUD, forcing her to roll away. But the leader moved in on her, his pistol unfolding into a sword. She did the same, both of them clashing over and over. Whenever he shattered her knife, she merely pulled out another. Movement behind her made her spin, slashing at the soldier behind her. He blocked it, but she in turn blocked his leader. But then a _third_ soldier closed in, and drove something into her side. Arc energy played over her shields dropping them steadily. A fourth man threw a lightning crystal, a bolt striking her head on. She yelled as he shields dropped into the red. She moved to start up her Super again, now recharged from all the fighting she had been doing…

Her whole body was wracked with pain as the leader stabbed something into her back. Her HUD went crazy as Arc energy flowed through her body, lightning arcing from her jittering limbs. Only once he had pulled away did she fall, her limbs unable to obey her. The world started growing dark.

"Mission control." Their leader spoke into his comms. "We've managed to capture a Guardian. Moving to intercept the other two."

And then everything went black.

* * *

Schwartz panted as he looked down at the unconscious Hunter, body feeling the weight of their fight now. Everyone was silent as they watched her carefully, as though this was all a trick and she'd spring back up and slaughter them all. A couple of the more braver soldiers managed to move in, cuffs at the ready. They disarmed her of her pistol and rifle, but the machine gun she used had somehow vanished. They cuffed her arms and legs, wrapping them tightly to avoid movement. He shook his head as he took in the final tally. Of the seventy men he had ordered to this room, only twenty three had survived. It had taken every tool they had, subterfuge, and a good dose of luck to have won.

And she had lasted so long because she kept pulling out more and more tricks from nowhere. The sooner they learnt _everything_ about these Guardians, the better their chances will be if this is a prelude to a full-scale invasion.

He tapped into his comms again, walking away. "Penny. What's the situation with the other two Guardians?" He hoped that they were, if not beaten, then at least still waylaid.

"Um… Not good." Penny replied nervously. "Whatever device the Warlock is using to hack the door is too strong for me. I can't stop it from cracking the code. And I'm almost out of Shanks." Cursing, he tapped at his wristband. A screen popped up, showing him the room the Warlock was locked in. As he watched, she put down the last five Shanks, before the door behind her opened wide and she ran out. He cursed again, louder and courser. One of their targets is getting away. "Stop her immediately!"

"I'm trying Sir. But the Walker isn't doing much better. If I try to focus on the Warlock, we could end up losing both of them." A third curse, and then he started running, ignoring the fatigue he was under.

"Just do it already. I'm moving to back up the second squad. We _cannot_ lose both of them." Luckily, his map of the ship allowed him to move quickly through the winding halls, always taking the right turn and finding the doors unlocked. He made it to the second bay in record time.

And was bowled over by one of his men as bullets started tearing into the wall behind him. He pushed the man off him and got back up, assessing the situation. It wasn't looking good. The tank was missing plating on two of its legs, and was noticeably crawling instead of walking. When a soldier popped over to fire shots, they were wild and panicky. And the Titan always scored a blow every time they peeked out. He ducked as a fiery grenade was tossed towards them, fire blooming everywhere as it landed. He cursed loudly.

"You four." He pointed at the nearest soldiers. "With me. We're going down and cornering her. Flushing her out. With luck, we can still salvage this." They gave him a worried nod, before jumping down with him. They quickly moved from cover to cover, using her shots to pinpoint her location. He rounded the corner just in time for her to kick him away, slamming her stock into the next man and punching the third man. A massive wave of fire exploded from his corpse, forcing the others back. Once again, Schwartz was left cursing, batting out the flames as he rolled away. The other two men screamed as they were consumed by the flames, burning away to nothing while the Titan stood unharmed in the flames. He fired wildly, but his shots bounced off her shield. It seemed even stronger than the Hunter's, his rounds doing nothing. She fired into his gut, his Aura weakened from his fighting. He crashed into a nearby crate as she ran out of cover. As she moved, her body was covered by fire as a hammer appeared in her hand. She threw they hammer at the balcony above, and a pillar of flame burst upwards. He could hear men screaming as they were burnt alive. Then she threw it at the tank, constantly moving as the flames melted the metal. The tank dropped to its knees, exposing its overheating engine to the world. He stumbled out to watch as the Titan kept throwing hammer after hammer, a new one appearing in her hand as she released the last one. When the final hammer struck home, the tank reared upwards as components started exploding, before falling apart into a pile of scrapped metal. He fired wildly as the Titan ran for the doors, which opened widely for her. He threw his gun to the ground in frustration, watching as yet another Guardian got away from him.

So many men dead, so many resources lost. And all they had to show for it was _one_ Guardian out of _three_.

* * *

Ti'ana kept running through the last part of the Ketch, a straight tunnel to the outside apparently. That fight, while tense, was amazing. While it had started off fine (until the Atlas backup arrived and made her options more limited) it wasn't until they came across an abandoned speck of Light that things took a turn for the better. A Sunbreaker class. A Titan class meant to rain fire down upon their foes. That hammer had been _awesome_. And it made it so much easier to destroy the Walker.

"Little Light, is our line secure?" She asked as she approached the final door. He flitted out from her and started cracking it, allowing it to open just as she nearly crashed into it. She wanted to take a deep breath as she exited into the cave.

"Completely certain. I'd imagine that they only managed to herd us like that through rigorous barring of our way." He replied.

"Get in contact with the others then. I want to find out if they're out yet, and form up a rendezvous point. Hopefully Bianca managed to figure out where Katie's ship is."

"And if she hasn't? Or they've been captured?"

"Well it's not like this will be the _first_ time we've fought our way into a heavily-fortified base."

Light bobbed. "True. Contacting now." Her comms gave a short click as they connected, the line filled with a faint static.

"Bianca. Katie. If either of you guys are in good condition, respond." She said.

"Over here." She heard Katie say over the comms. She turned towards the front of the Ketch to see Katie waving at her. The Warlock jumped over to solid ground and ran towards her.

"Katie." Ti'ana said in relief. "Traveller, am I glad to see you."

"Same." They both turned as a louder alarm started sounding, lights spinning on the walls. They both nodded, and started running and jumping to higher ground. Ti'ana reached back and pulled Katie up. Her Glide was good for going down, but not as good going up. "So all in all, not one of our better missions."

"No shit." Ti'ana sighed as they crouched behind a crevice, watching as yet _more_ soldiers started running outside. They scoured the area around the ship, searching for…

She frowned. "Hey, I recognise that guy." She said, pointing at one of the soldiers. He was moving awkwardly, his arm padded with bandages. "That's the guy I shot in the shoulder."

"How the hell do you know he's the same guy? He's wearing a helmet." Katie asked.

"I don't know. But he's been shot in the shoulder. Seems pretty evident to me."

"But then… That would mean that…"

"Those are the only guys not busy right now. Everyone is either occupied, or dead." Ti'ana tapped at her comms again. "Bianca. Bianca, where the hell are you?" She was starting to get worried.

A crackle, a faint voice. "Ti'ana?" She heard a familiar masculine voice. A Ghost's voice. Tyrion. "Ti'ana, if you can hear me, Bianca is out of action. We were ambushed and surrounded by what appeared to be half an army."

"Boost the signal." She said to Light. He started spinning on the spot, parts orbiting him and moving in and out. "Tyrion, this is Ti'ana. Report your current situation."

"Bianca is down. Unconscious from multiple arc attacks. All bodily injuries have been healed. Soldiers are currently disarming her as we speak."

"Shit." She cursed. "Keep that tech out of their hands. We'll head back in and free you two. Shouldn't be too hard, not with so many men injured."

Dinklebot chirped. "Guardians, I am picking up _multiple_ signals approaching the Ketch landing sight. With a third wave not far behind."

"Forget about us." Tyrion said. "Bianca can handle herself. You two _need _to get out of there. I'll transmit the location of Katie's ship to you."

"Understood. Keep yourself safe and hidden. Those guys _cannot_ learn about you." She shut off her comms, Light collapsing in on himself again as he picked up the message.

"Got those coordinates. Let's get out of here." He said.

"Right." They both replied, pointing their guns at their heads. Single rounds, and then their Ghosts were flying back up the tunnel to safety.

* * *

The first thing Bianca did when she woke up was go over the last moments she remembered before she went down. It was always important to remember things like that, in case you find yourself amongst friends or enemies. The surrounding soldiers, the last words of their leader, and the metal bands clamped tightly round her wrists all point to her still being in deep shit. She opened her eyes, blinking wildly and wincing at the bright light. She waited a second or two, before realising that her helmet was going to adjust to the brightness. Right. Obviously she wasn't wearing it anymore. In fact, when she squirmed as best as she could against whatever surface she was strapped against (she was thinking a table or something like it) it felt like she was clad only in the space suit everything else was clamped onto. She huffed as she flopped her head back down. She swore that if any of those guys copped a feel on her while she was out, she was going to bury her blades _right_ in their junk.

"Ah, Bianca. You're finally awake." She heard Tyrion say. "Don't respond verbally to me. They don't know I'm here, and we'll want to keep it that way. Now, your vital signs are excellent. All possible damage has been healed. They tried to remove and study all your gear, but I gathered it back up as soon as I could." He laughed. "You should've seen their faces when the guns and armour vanished in their hands. Priceless." She rolled her eyes, grunting. "Right. Sorry. I'll get you out in a jiffy. Just need to sever your spinal area for immediate death. You'll barely feel a thing. Honest." She closed her eyes, waiting for the (probable) pain. "Severing in three… two… one…"

There was a hissing sound, and she opened her eyes to see the door opening. An older man stepped into the room, white coat almost blending into the walls. She raised an eyebrow as she took in and recognised the details. Tyrion went silent, no doubt waiting to hear what he has to say first.

The man kept watching her carefully, one hand in his pocket while his other hand hanged loose. "You're awake I see. Fast recovery time. Our scientists thought it would take you another hour to wake up." He stepped closer to her, filling her vision. "Do you know who I am?"

She gave a curt nod. "How can I not? You weren't exactly subtle when you arrived at Beacon, General Ironwood."

Ironwood nodded in response. "In that case, let's not beat around the bush, Guardian. I know for a fact that you are not from any known kingdom. That you are not even from Remnant. You are in fact an elite agent for an alien invader known as 'The Traveller'. And we know that you are here to help take control of our world." She stared at him, slightly in shock.

"…I don't know _where_ this guy got his 'information', but it's so wrong that it actually hurts." Tyrion said to her. She gave a short, snorting laugh. Ironwood frowned as she laughed, before slamming his hands on either side of her head. An inappropriate comment came to mind, but now probably wasn't the best time to say it.

"You think this is funny?" He nearly hissed. "Because I don't see the amusement of this. Of the 117 men and robots I had brought with me to capture you and your friends, of the 62 humans that you lot killed, only half of them have any remains left to be buried. I am _not_ in the mood for jokes." He leaned in close, practically spitting on her face before turning away. Tyrion cleaned her face for her while he wasn't watching. "I don't know what your exact mission here was. Scouting out our forces; learning the weaknesses in our defences; understanding how our Huntsmen fight. But whatever it is, it's likely a prelude to an all-out war. Well, you won't find us easy pickings."

She fought the urge to snort at him. "Look, General. I don't know where the hell you got your information about the Traveller and us, but it's unbelievably wrong." He turned to give her a look. "The Traveller isn't an invader. He's… He's a gifter, a helper. He just shows up, offers to help, and then does so. There's nothing malicious about it."

"And what does he get from it?"

"What makes you think He gets _anything_ from it?"

"I have a hard time believing something that travels from world to world does so from the goodness of their heart. He gets _something_ out of all this."

She shrugged. "Nothing, as far as I know. He just helps because He's a nice guy. Alien. Thing. You get what I mean."

"Well if he's so benevolent, then what does he need people like you for? Surely a peaceful, gentle being wouldn't send warriors in first."

"He didn't…" She fought down the urge to groan. "There's something out there that's chasing after Him. Something we call 'The Darkness'. Something of equal power to The Traveller, and with a hatred for Him."

"Now why would something so kind have an enemy?"

"Why do the Grimm attack without reason? Some things out there just don't like playing with others. Maybe they had a fight. Maybe they supported opposing sides. Maybe The Darkness just doesn't like anybody making the universe a better place. Point is, it nearly destroyed our kind. We need Guardians for the same reason that you guys need Huntsmen. To fight back against the monsters pounding on our walls."

He watched her carefully, as though he could determine if she was lying by staring _really_ hard at her. "So what, you're here to take Remnant's resources for yourselves?"

"No." She said exasperatedly. "Look, we didn't mean to come here in the first place. We didn't know that Remnant existed. Hell, dimensional travel is still considered impossible by us. The only reason we came here was by sheer accident. All we want is to get our ships, find a way back home, and leave."

He nodded, as though he understood what she was saying. "Yes, yes. Very logical. Sounds believable, understandable. I could potentially see myself doing something similar if I were in that situation." He looked up at her. "However, I'm not sure you're telling me the _whole_ _truth._"

Her heart sank. "But I have. I've told you nothing _but_ the truth."

"Really? Because several of your recent actions still don't quite add up to me. If you were truly here on a peaceful, accidental mission, then why was it that the first night you arrived you attacked my men at the CCT? And why was it that you resisted arrest, rather than surrendering peacefully and simply explaining yourselves?"

She gave off an annoyed sigh. "We had just killed a fragment or something of the Darkness. Killing it opened the portal to your world. What would've been _your_ first reaction to arriving at what may have been the enemy's home world? Go up to it and say hello?"

"Really? I thought you said that it was sheer accident that you arrived here."

"It _was_. We didn't know that killing the Black Heart would've dragged us here."

"And yet mere days after your arrival, a team of trainee Huntsmen led by your team encountered a mutated Grimm. And then the Hive appeared close to Vale, despite many scouting parties never having disturbed them before."

She glared at him. "What's next? You're gonna blame the Dust theft on us too? It was shitty timing, that's all." He kept watching her, and she could see it in his eyes. He still didn't believe her. Why not? What the hell did he know that would make him distrust her so much?

"Miss Bianca." He said finally. "Parts of your story make some manner of sense. But others seem… unlikely. While I'd like to believe that you have nothing but honest intentions for Remnant, my duty is to the continued protection of our world and all its people. So I am offering you _one_ chance. Tell us the whole truth, under you own free will. Explain all your capabilities to our scientists. Let us examine your equipment. Do that, and I swear that if you really aren't a threat to us, I will let you go free and unharmed. However, if you refuse, then I will be _forced_ to use more… invasive forms of interrogation. I'm afraid that it is unlikely that you will survive." In his eyes, behind cold steely will, was a flash of fear. He was afraid. Afraid of what they were capable of, of what they represent. He feared that even with their technology, they won't be able to stop her side from invading.

She got it, she did. But there _was_ no invasion force. No grand plan for Remnant. There was nothing else she could say. "I _am_ telling the truth." She said. "I know that you're worried, but there's nothing untoward going on. And if you won't believe me, then we've got nothing to talk about."

Ironwood sighed in resignation. "Very well then. I'm afraid that you leave me with no choice."

"Same here." She said as he turned away. Ironwood went to activate his scroll when a snapping sound filled the room. He twisted round to see Bianca looking glassy-eyed, her head at an odd angle. Cursing loudly, he ran over to her and placed his fingers against her neck. He practically recoiled as he felt the broken bones just poking out of the skin. He was no medical expert, but he's seen enough death to know what it looks like. He was both perplexed by her actions and amazed at her dedication to her mission. Willing to kill herself to avoid telling him anything? That required true courage. But he still sighed in exasperation as he turned away again.

"Schwartz. I'm afraid that our Guardian killed herself rather than tell us her secrets." He said into his scroll. "Prepare a team to dissect her. Hopefully, we can learn something from her remains. Once they're done, see to it that she receives a proper burial." A sound happened behind him, causing him to turn again. His eyes widened as he took in the empty table. Her body was gone. But how? A flash from the corner of his eye, coming from the doorway that was now left open. He ran out in time to see a small floating drone hovering outside the room. Before he could react, it glowed and assumed a humanoid shape, cape billowing as it landed. The glow faded to reveal Bianca, alive, whole and well-armed. She was already running, moving quickly down the hall. Cursing again in shock and alarm, he pounded on the alarm button before grabbing his scroll and chasing after her. "Cancel that! Target is somehow still alive! I want all remaining soldiers and robots moving to stop her! We can't let her escape!"

"Whelp. He's pissed." Bianca said to Tyrion, having left Ironwood behind. "Where's the nearest exit?"

"You don't want to grab Katie's ship?" He asked her. "As in one of the things we're looking desperately for?"

"Do you think it's still in pieces?"

"Probably."

"Then no. We don't have time for you to repair it, or any way to get it out of here just yet. For now, we'll have to let them get away with it. Shouldn't be too hard for you to crack their codes and find it again."

"Alright then. But before we start making any escape plans, I'd just like to point out that the lab they've got her ship in is _much_ closer than any possible exit. At least, any that we could reach by foot. And if they got the ship parts in there, then logically there should be a way to get it back out."

"Careful. You might pull something if you hint any harder." She ducked as men ran into the hallway and started firing at her, sliding down towards them even as she fired at them. They both twisted round before falling, sizable holes in their bodies. She groaned as she got to her feet. "Fine. Where is it?"

"Take the next right and go for the second turn." He said calmly. "Once there, it should be the third door on your right."

"Should? Tyrion, you know I don't like working with 'should'." She said as she took the turn, throwing a grenade behind her. The men running towards her yelled as they tried to dodge the flying sub-munitions.

"Don't blame me. I'm just working with the plans they had in their system. It's not my fault if it turns out they printed something… Wait!" She skidded to a halt at his command, pressing herself against the wall. "In the next room. I'm detecting a powerful Light."

Hidden behind her helmet, she bit her lip. This was enemy territory, with Traveller knows how many soldiers. True, she's done this kind of infiltration before. But that was with beings she'd happily pump full of lead. These guys were just ordinary people unfortunate enough to risk her life and safety. The longer she was stuck in here, the more chance that she'd have to kill more of them. But the mention of a powerful Light intrigued her. Despite her misgivings, she couldn't resist a peek. She got the door open, locking it behind her as she entered. She had apparently found a storage room of some kind. Around the place was Fallen equipment.

"Amazing." Tyrion said in awe. "This must be most of the gear that they recovered from the Ketch. I've never realised just how much gear one of them could hold. You know, I've always wondered just what exactly the Tower recovered from Simiks-Fel…"

"Tyrion, focus. Where exactly is that Light?"

"Third crate from the back, on the leftmost side." He answered immediately. A waypoint appeared on her HUD. Moving quickly, she shot open the crate immediately, the metal cracking under her blows. Once the lock was broken, she wrenched it open to look inside. There was a glowing ball of Void energy, just big enough to fit in her hand. Without really thinking, she grabbed it immediately. The energy shrunk down as it flowed through her, her HUD changing as new symbols appeared.

"Tyrion. What did I pick up?"

"I'm not sure. Give me a… Ah."

"What's 'ah'?"

"Well, you've got a new sub-class. Support style, if I'm reading this correctly." A panel appeared before her, a series of abilities listed on it for her. She was distracted as she heard someone banging on the door. "Better choose quickly. I think they're trying to get in."

"No shit." She replied, tapping away at ability panels. Well, at least this class should let her keep the soldiers occupied until she could get away. Melee ability looked useful too. Satisfied that she had picked good choices, she moved back to the door. "Alright then. Open it up on my signal. Three… Two… One…" The door beeped as Tyrion unlocked it, just as she tossed out a smoke grenade. The soldiers yelled as they were enveloped by the smoke, shooting wildly at each other. She ran into the smoke, noting that she was now clad in an invisibility cloak thanks to it. She left the soldiers panicking behind her, heading towards the hanger or lab that the ship was waiting in.

"That's the door. Right there." Tyrion said as she rounded the next corner. Without slowing down, she slammed her fist on the controls, sliding through the opening just as her invisibility wore off. Then, after Tyrion locked the door, she blew out the controls for good measure. Only then did she turn to look at the room.

She gave a low whistle as she took in the ship. "Man, Katie's going to be pissed when she sees this." Most of the ship was either battered or dismantled, cables running out of the chassis into computers. The warp drive itself was sitting alone on a table, more cables running from it. In all honesty she considered fixing it a lost cause. Even Holiday would've been hard-pressed to get this working again.

Tyrion floated towards it, eye projecting a beam already. "Well, Holiday would throw a fit if she saw my handiwork, but I think I can get this functional enough to escape. Keep an eye out for trouble while I'm working though. This could take some time." And without further ado, he flew into the ship's chassis and got to work.

Bianca frowned. "'Hey Bianca, mind fighting the bajillion bad guys trying to get in here while I potter along and do technical shit?' 'Why of course Tyrion. After all, it's not like that's any different from what I've already been doing every mission.'" She grumbled, overturning another desk to hide behind.

"Complaining isn't going to make me work any faster." Tyrion said. The cables suddenly flew out of the ship, while panels floated into place and were sealed down. Sparks flew as he worked, as he repaired the internal parts as best as he could. Her radar suddenly lit up, the entire front of it bright red. Shouting sounded from the other side of the door, and then there was a loud cutting sound. Evidently, they had decided to just open the door on _their_ terms rather than give her an opportunity.

"Tyrion." She said in warning, watching the sparks of the saw at work at the door.

"I know." He responded. More markers appeared on her radar, coming up _behind _her. She turned on the spot to see robots rising from the floor. Before they could fully activate, she started blowing off their heads. Luckily for her, unlike the Vex those parts were highly important. The mechs dropped in heaps on the floor. She turned back to see that saw hallway up the door. "Duck." Tyrion called out. She dropped down as the mangled engine floated towards the ship, beams smoothing out dents and tears as it was connected. More radar marks appeared, coming from the side. She looked around wildly until she saw the open hatches on the walls, floating mechs dropping out of them. They seemed a lot like Shanks, assuming they were made by Atlas instead. She started firing, dropping them before they could start attacking. But there were too many, and several managed to fire back before she stopped them. Her shields took a hefty dip as she ran, hands still pulling the trigger as she moved. "Hey Bianca. I know it's not my place to say this, but while you're dealing with our enemies could you try to avoid hitting the warp drive? It doesn't like it when it gets shot at."

"What happens if it gets shot at?" She asked, downing the last droid. The saw was nearly through the door now.

"Let me put it this way. An unstable warp drive was used to completely annihilate a Ketch during its first test run. Whole thing, kaput."

"So basically bad." She summed up.

"We're _still_ not entirely sure what happened to that Ketch. So yeah." Bianca turned back to the door just in time to see the saw reach the top. It withdrew, then the door was kicked off its hinges or tracks or whatever. Bullets went flying in as the soldiers peppered the room. She threw herself in the way of the warp drive, letting her shields soak up the bullets instead. When the soldiers tried to move in, she threw her grenade at their feet. They were probably expecting to have at least a second to dodge. But as soon as it hit the ground, a line of purple fire raced away from the center. A few soldiers still standing there screamed as they were consumed by the flames, while the others backed away quickly to avoid it. Well, they weren't getting in hopefully soon. She turned to see Tyrion carrying the drive to the safety of the ship. As she waited for the flames to die down, she took potshots at any soldier that tried to look it. Even if she missed, it kept them cautious. But they were running out of time.

That was when the wall _beside_ the door was suddenly blown open. She cursed as the dust filled the air. They must've been setting charges while she was distracting them, hoping to catch her off guard. While she couldn't really see in all the dust, her radar allowed her to make accurate guesses. Accompanying screams and shouts told her when she landed a shot. As she saw the soldiers streaming out of the dust towards her, she tossed another smoke grenade at their feet, rushing towards them. Smoke billowed everywhere, and she was quickly shrouded while the men nearly attacked each other again. She lashed out with blades and feet, knocking them around as they stumbled. Everyone ducked as a loud bang filled the air. A bang that she recognised.

Ti'ana was here.

"Ironwood!" She heard Ozpin's voice, the smoke dissipating to reveal him standing between Ti'ana and Katie. Ironwood and his proto-Exo were also in the room, now facing Ozpin. He looked deeply serious.

"Tell your men to stand down." Ozpin said.

* * *

"_Ok. We've got the location of their secret base." Ti'ana said once they made it to the surface. "Logically, it'll probably be the same base where they'll take Bianca to. We get our ships, grab our sparrows, and break in and get her out of there. Short and simple."_

"_Get revenge on __**their**__ ambush by launching our __**own**__ ambush. Kinda like it." Katie replied._

_Ti'ana nodded. "But we'll need to work fast. The longer we take to get to her…" They both stopped, noticing a mark on their radar. They looked up to see Ozpin and Glynda standing not far before them. Ozpin looked at them over the rim of his glasses._

"_Well." He said. "I honestly can't say I'm surprised by this. Not after how blatant Ironwood's 'secret files' were."_

"_Busted." Katie muttered. Ti'ana stepped forward, hoping there was some way of smoothing things out. She stopped as Glynda pointed her riding crop at her, dust energy already forming at the tip._

"_Easy Glynda." Ozpin admonished her. "Let's not startle them."_

"_Let's cut to the chase. How long have you guys known that we're not from Remnant?" Ti'ana asked._

"_Since the first day you arrived as Beacon." Ozpin replied. "Your 'history' wasn't as well thought out as you believed it to be. While some things on their own I might be willing to accept – the idea that you are part of an isolated, technologically advanced kingdom that no one had ever heard of or met before was a bit much. Plus, I had already found mention of Guardians before."_

"_The Ketch." It wasn't a question._

"_I'm assuming that's what you call the warship we have down below. But yes, that's where we first found mention of your group."_

"_I'm impressed." Little Light said to her. "The fact that they managed to translate __**anything**__ from their databases is amazing."_

"_So, you guys found __**something**__ that made you assume that we're your enemies." She guessed._

"_In a sense." Ozpin admitted. "And yet so far, you've been nothing but helpful in your roles as protectors. Guardians is certainly a strange title for elite soldiers. And in fact, apart from your non-lethal attack on the Cross Continental Transit Station, you haven't actually done anything that's a threat to the kingdoms." He had been pacing as he said all that, now turning to face them. "So, I'm willing to give you a chance to explain yourselves. If you are __**not**__ in fact a threat to Remnant, then I'm sure we can come to a peaceful understanding."_

_Ti'ana gave off a big sigh, turning to look at Katie. The Warlock was waving her on. "Alright then. Where to start?"_

_Ozpin smiled. "I always found it best to start at the beginning…"_

* * *

"Tell your men to stand down." Ozpin said, walking into the room. At either side of him were the Guardians, weapons hanging loosely from their hands. Neither of them seemed agitated at walking into the enemy base.

"Ozpin?" Ironwood asked in confusion. His soldiers kept wavering between the two groups, guns moving from the Hunter to the Titan and the Warlock. As they did so, he noticed that somehow the ship, the crashed ship they had recovered, the one that had done nothing since they found it, was slowly but surely repairing itself. Could it be because of the close proximity of the Guardians? Or did they have some form of repair tool on their persons?

He had to sort this out before that ship was ready to take off.

"Ironwood." Ozpin said again. "Please order your men to stand down. Before anyone else ends up injured. Or worse."

Ironwood shook his head sorrowfully. "After everything they've done tonight, you still believe that we should let them go free? They are more dangerous than you realise."

"Perhaps. But they mean us no harm. I assume that Miss Bianca has managed to inform you that they ended up on Remnant by sheer accident?" A slight sideways look was his only reaction. "I see. And because you were so worried about our safety, you didn't believe her." He sighed, before pulling his scroll out of his pocket. "Miss Bianca. Could your 'Ghost' have a look at the files on here? I believe that we'll _all_ find it interesting."

The Hunter stared at him, expression inscrutable under her helm, her gun lowered. She turned towards the ship. "Tyrion." She called out.

"Little busy here!" A masculine voice called out. Ironwood was surprised. There had been no one else with her. Not when they attacked her, not when they captured her, not even when she escaped. Where did he come from?

"Will you forget about the ship? We need you to look at some files." A sigh, and then something small floated out of the ship's frame. His soldiers pointed their weapons at it, and the Guardians' reactions were immediate. All three of them had their weapons raised, pointed squarely at his men. Their grips seemed tight enough that their knuckles would be white. Interesting. So whoever or whatever this 'Tyrion' is, he's incredibly important to them. Everyone stayed stock still as the floating thing got closer. He could now identify finer details about it. It seemed to be a floating drone, similar to the Shanks they found, but smaller. A single bright blue eye rest in the center of it, while four – no, _eight_\- small parts rotated around the eye. It moved carefully through the soldiers, all who kept their guns trained on it. The Guardians seemed to get more and more tense with every second.

If even a single man fired a shot, all hell would break loose.

The drone approached Ozpin, who held his scroll out to it. Immediately, a series of beams scanned the device, images appearing around it. Ironwood frowned as he recognised them. They were from the warship's system, the ones they recovered the first day they claimed it. Once every piece was taken, the drone flitted between the images, studying them intently.

"Hmm. Fascinating." It said, still studying them. "I have to say, the fact you got _anything_ from these in incredible. The fact that it's _mostly_ accurate is all the more surprising."

"_Mostly?_" Ironwood asked in surprise.

"Yes. Let me just bring up _your_ translation." One of the screens became bigger, revealing familiar words. Words he had ingrained in his mind long ago. The Titan stepped closer to read them.

"'Be wary of the Guardians. For they are The Traveller's Might. Be wary of the Guardians, for they bring death to all.'" She read out. "Well no wonder you guys were so paranoid if _that's_ what you got. What's the actual translation?" She asked the drone.

"Rather similar, actually. But there's more that helps explain it." He pulled up a larger file, one they were still having trouble with. Another screen appeared alongside it, the text being translated right before their eyes. From the way it was set out, it was almost like a diary or journal.

"'We have failed the Great Machine.'" The Titan read aloud. "'We tried to please it, to defend it. But we failed. We are lost, broken, useless. And the Great Machine hates us now, hates the legacy we embody. It has taken a new name, and new warriors. They are but ghouls, dead but do not know it. Willing to monsters to keep their reclaimed lives. They come for us at all times, killing our people, destroying our Servitors, culling our Kells. We are without leaders with each passing day. And their numbers only grow. Through It's gifts, gifts that belonged to us, they destroy us one by one. So be it. We will unite the Houses. We will rally our soldiers. And we will take these monsters with us in our deaths. We will not cower before a tyrant god. We will shout in fury, and rob It of Its revenge.'" She backed away, almost perturbed.

"'Ghouls'. Well, I can't think of a better term for something that cannot die." Ironwood said.

The drone ignored him. "According to the data, this was written by the last Kell of Scar, Raniks. It seemed that the other Fallen Houses attacked them when they suggested an all-out final assault of the Last City. With only their Ketch left, they ran. At some point, they must've found a passage that led to this world…"

"Where they were wiped out by us." Ozpin finished. "What are the Fallen like?"

"Pirates." The Warlock replied. "They scrounge anything they can get their hands on, most of it relics of our Golden Age. We have to fight them to keep hold of our past. And they once led an assault on our walls that we barely held at bay." She looked at the drone. "What I'm more curious about is this 'Great Machine'. From their description, they believed that it and The Traveller were one and the same."

The drone bobbed, somewhat like a shrug. "Perhaps they are. We're not the first species to have flourished under The Traveller's Light."

"James." Ozpin said, walking closer to him. "The Guardians are not our enemies. They are simply defenders of their people, just like Huntsmen are for us. They are willing to negotiate and live peacefully, if we let them."

Ironwood frowned at him. "They killed 62 of my men."

"And did they do this before or after you attacked _them_?" They looked each other in the eye, brown against blue. "They just want to go home. And as they've informed me already, killing them is not enough to put them down. If you keep attacking them, then you will likely have to bury far more men than the 62 you've lost already."

Ironwood gave a frustrated sigh. "Fine. Men, lower your weapons." The soldiers gave him a look of surprise, muttering to each other. "That's an order. He walked towards the Guardians. "Alright then. You're free to go. With your ship, assuming you can fix it. On one condition though."

"Of course." The Hunter sighed. "What condition is that exactly?"

"You will tell us _everything_ that your Guardians are capable of. Your weapons, your armour, your abilities, even how you can come back from the dead." Perhaps if he learnt what technology they had, what they used to allow this, even less lives will be lost after this disaster.

Bianca took off her helmet, staring him in the eye. "I know what you're thinking. But our resurrective abilities aren't something you can mass produce. Only our Ghosts can do it. And _any_ attempt to study them _will_ be met with extreme violence. Understand?"

He didn't back down. "Are you saying you're willing to go to war over these Ghosts?"

"Go to war over a highly valuable and limited resource? Hell yeah I would." And she pushed past him, walking towards the exit. The Warlock knelt down by the ship, making small keening noises. Another drone, another 'Ghost', flitted out of her body and started working on the ship.

Ironwood turned away from it all. Right now, he needed to do something he had been putting off all night. Informing the families of the dead soldiers.

* * *

**There we go. Wow this was a lot of words. I honestly had to admit, I wasn't expecting this event to have gone on for so long. I suppose part of it is that I wanted to give all three Guardians a time to shine. I want to thank AvengersReviewer for some of the ideas in the fight aboard the Ketch. Really got the ball rolling there for me.**

**Now then. Yes, our heroines got to have a bit of fun with the new sub-classes. According to the missions where you receive them in The Taken King, the sub-classes have always existed in Destiny. They're just meant to be specialised, and they've stayed out of the Tower until recently. I've always felt that, as a Titan player, the Sunbreaker class is easily the most useful class for Titans. A mid-point, with all the power of a Striker along with the Overshield of a Defender. And it's ranged too, so you don't have to be suicidal to use it. It's perfect for taking down a Devil Walker, along with its adds. Actually, it's pretty useful for dealing with **_**any**_** boss and their adds.**

**Stormcaller is great for dealing with loads of weaker enemies, like Shanks and Thralls. You can move while using it, the damage chains to enemies, and you can even teleport in case you get surrounded. Combined with the Bad Juju, and you can clear waves of enemies practically by yourself really fast.**

**With Nightstalker, I've always found that to be a slight let-down compared to Gunslinger and Bladedancer (though that's probably because I haven't fully levelled it, and it's a support class compared to the other two's DPS classes). That said, I **_**was**_** going to use it during this fight. But then Ozpin just walked in before I could use the ability, and so it went unused. Hey, maybe they could end up using it later.**

**I was halfway through writing this when I recalled that Atlas liked to use robots with their soldiers. It was too much of a hassle to change things to mention robots, so it's more a side mention at the end, put down in the kill-count. Still gets across just how badass our heroines are.**

**Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this. For those of you waiting for my other stories, hopefully I'll get some more ideas before I release another chapter. Until then, I hope you enjoy my work.**


	9. The Truth Revealed

**Chapter 9: The Truth Revealed**

The Beacon Dance – a formal event meant to give the huntsmen and huntresses of Beacon a night to simply relax – was originally meant to have been planned by Team CFVY. But when their latest mission, a simple hunt mission, ran into overtime, it fell to Team RWBY as the second choice. Weiss and Yang gladly took on the job, their combined knowledge of etiquette and hard partying working together well.

Until they started arguing of course.

"Weiss, that's too many doilies!" Yang exclaimed. "Seriously, are we decorating this place for a party or for old grandmas?"

Weiss glared at her. "Fine. Then I guess we'll just have to get rid of some of the smoke machines. I'm sure we can handle only having one of them."

"What? No. We need at least five of them."

"And yet I've seen you unload about ten smoke machines within the last hour. I'm sorry, but is it _normal_ for club patrons to crash into each other and dance blindly for fun?"

"Well, more smoke machines are still better than lacy junk." Yang shot back, and then they were both arguing. Ruby tried to sigh from where she was sitting, but unfortunately her mouth was filled to the brim with 'samples' of the food they were going to offer. She heard soft pattering, and turned to see that Blake had landed next to her. She had offered to use her Faunus agility to help hang some decorations on the walls. She gave Ruby a look.

"Aren't you going to stop your 'best friend' and your sister from killing each other?" She asked. Ruby swallowed, and found herself gasping for breath.

"Don't worry about it. They're just really… passionate about this. They're not going to start fighting about the dance…" She turned to see that Yang had her Ember Celica and Weiss had Myrtenaster ready for combat. She ran between them, both of the trying to push past her and get to each other. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop fighting, stop fighting! Calm down everyone! We can just… have less of both maybe?" She offered in a panic.

Weiss glared at Ruby, before raising an eyebrow. "Ruby, have you been pigging out on the snacks?"

"No? Maybe? Is there food on my face?" Ruby wiped a hand over her cheeks, having it come away with food covering it. She quickly licked it clean. "Yes. B-But someone needs to make sure that the food tastes ok. You don't want to put this much effort into the room and have people not eating the food, do you?"

"…Wow. That was actually a good excuse for eating everything."

"I know." She gave a big grin before grabbing a cloth and cleaning her face. She looked around the room, still smiling. "Wow. This is going to look amazing. I think we've all done a stand-up job."

"We're not done yet. There's still a few things we need to finish off before this could be considered complete." Weiss said. "We've still got to organise the music, get the rest of the balloons set up, and arrange the rest of the seating. And then there's the most important part."

"What's that?" Ruby asked, scratching her head in confusion

"Picking out a prom date!" Weiss said excitedly, sparkles all around her. She sighed in contentment.

"Uh, ok? Well, since you and I spotted each other first, I guess that means we're going together then."

"Not as a team, you dunce. You're supposed to pick someone you like – perhaps of the opposite gender – and come to the prom with them so as to ensure you have someone to enjoy the night with."

"Oh. Do we… _have_ to pick someone?" Ruby asked nervously, tapping her index fingers together.

"It isn't mandatory. But it's seen as much better to arrive with a partner than to arrive on your own." Weiss explained.

"And of course _we_ have to talk fashion, little sister." Yang said, grabbing Ruby by the shoulder. "You absolutely _have_ to wear something nice. No coming to the dance in your combat clothes."

"What's wrong with my combat clothes?" Ruby asked, looking at herself and picking at her clothes with her fingers.

"Well, nothing. But you can't show up to an important dance with clothes streaked with Grimm blood and dirt. You need to look amazing, fashionable, dazzling." Sparkles started forming around her too. "Tomorrow, we need to head down to the shops. I think I saw something there that's just _perfect_ for you." She squealed in excitement. Then she turned to Blake. "What about you, Blake? Want some help choosing a dress?"

"Actually, I've already found and bought a dress I like." Blake replied. "_And_ I found someone to go with."

"Sun." They all said at the same time. Blake blinked in surprise.

"Don't act so surprised. Everyone here can see that you two like each other." Weiss said. "I'll admit, he's a bit too much of a ruffian for my tastes, but as long as you're happy that shouldn't matter."

"Ah… ok." Blake said simply. Whatever else they were going to say was interrupted by Sun and Neptune crashing through the doors. Both seemed out of breath.

"Hah… Hah… Hah…" They both panted, catching their breaths again. The girls gave them time to get the words out. "You guys… aren't… going… to believe… this." Neptune finally managed to say.

"I'll say." Yang replied. "I hope you guys ran from a great distance because otherwise you're _really_ out of shape."

"There are aliens on Remnant!" Sun shouted at them, wide-eyed and excited. "Actual beings from another world. Can you believe it?"

"Wha… Aliens? What aliens?" Ruby asked. She was startled as Sun grabbed her arm.

"No time. Must run. Now." He went racing out the door with her in tow, the others close behind them. "Ok. So we were watching the TV to see if there was any interesting news going on, and there was. They said that some guy named Ironwood discovered aliens not too long ago, and now they're doing a whole article on them tonight. Now. Like, right now."

"In a few minutes, you mean." Neptune corrected. Sun ignored him.

"Turns out that these three aliens have been living here on Remnant for over a month now. A whole month, blending into the population. Can you believe it? How could alien life have hidden itself so easily amongst us? They must use some kind of… infiltration program or something."

"You watch too much sci-fi. It's more likely that they have a similar build to us Humans…" Blake coughed loudly. "…And Faunus, that allows them to simply wear some covering outfits. No word though on what they're here for."

"My money's on stealing our women. Or our men. Maybe they've got chicks amongst them." By now, they had reached the main commons room, with an assortment of TVs set up. And all of them were tuned to the Vale News Network (or VNN for short). Just as they arrived, the last ad was finished, and the opening tune for the VNN was playing. The VNN symbol moved to the corner of the screen, as reporter/anchor-woman Lisa Lavender appeared on screen.

"Welcome back." She said. "As promised, we are now reporting on what is likely the most striking news in all of Remnant History. We now have confirmed – yes, _confirmed_ – reports that life from beyond the stars does in fact exist." The students gasped as this news. Real-life aliens? How was this possible? Where did they come from? What did they look like? "Thanks to the efforts Altesian general James Ironwood, we have managed to identify the three aliens currently on Remnant, based in the city of Vale." Team RWBY looked at each other nervously. "Though despite what many people would believe, these aliens aren't actually that different from ourselves. From the reports we here at the VNN have received, they are in fact from another world much like Remnant. One also populated by humans." The girls felt worry and resignation. They could tell who Lisa Lavender was talking about. Three pictures appeared next to Lavender, showing the faces of three people. One was of a dark-skinned woman with spikey blond hair. The second was of a blue-skinned woman with silvery-white hair. And the final one was of a robot, blue eyes glowing. "These three have been spending their time at the prestigious Beacon Academy, hiding themselves as elite Huntresses known as the Guardians." The students all gasped again at that. "But there's no need to be alarmed. Thanks to strong efforts by General Ironwood and his men, they managed to find out that they are _not_ in fact here to attack us…"

* * *

"…Their arrival here on Remnant was an unfortunate accident due to the destruction of a powerful threat known as the 'Black Heart'. In its death throes, it apparently created a wormhole from their world to our own, and they have simply been seeking out their missing vessels and a way back home ever since." Uldren leant forward in his chair, watching the news over steepled fingers. Behind him, also watching the news, were his two lieutenants.

"Huh." Torchwick said. "Aliens, huh? I wouldn't mind getting my hands on their interesting tech. Who knows what kind of strange tricks they've got up their sleeve."

"You would find your mission near impossible." Uldren replied, still frowning at the screen. "Guardians are notoriously difficult to put down permanently. At best you would merely delay them for a few seconds. More if they are fighting alone."

"I _thought_ you would know of them." Cinder said. None of them needed to say aloud that it was due to his strange appearance. Indeed, though differently shaded his skin was a near match for the blue woman.

"Indeed. We are both from the same alternate universe. But we fight on different sides."

"You're at war with them? Then surely you know of a way to kill them permanently."

Uldren snorted. "We are hardly at war with the Guardians. We merely have a frosty relationship with the Last City that they protect. They seek to remain under the protection of a dying god, while we were saved by a creature of Darkness. Though they aren't officially mortal enemies, they both still hate each other with a passion." He nodded. "But yes. I do know of a way to kill a Guardian. Though it will still be notoriously difficult."

"Great. Let us know and we'll get on with looting their corpses." Torchwick said jovially.

"One sure-fire way to kill them is to have them die in an area without access to the Light. A place with large amounts of Grimm, or Hive, or other monstrosity. But we don't have the time or luck to find such an area capable of overwhelming them. So we would have to unleash an orbital bombardment on their location."

Torchwick hissed through his teeth. "Orbital bombardment? Now call me crazy, but it seems a little detrimental to blow up an entire city to kill three people. Three people we _obviously_ won't be able to loot afterwards." He waved his arms to emphasis his words. "I'm all for risks, sure. But I'd like to get something out of them besides hundreds of thousands of dead people and the rest of the world hunting me down."

"_Potentially_ kill them. But yes, you make a very good point. Besides, no nation or force on this world has access to orbital bombardments of sufficient strength, if at all."

"Why do we need so much firepower?" Cinder asked. "Couldn't we just shoot out whatever it is that resurrects them? Or 'borrow' it?"

Uldren turned to face her. "Impossible. The item you speak of – their 'Ghost' – is so vital to them that any attempts to grab it will immediately be taken as an act of aggression. And as long as they have access to Light, they can regenerate from almost anything. An orbital bombardment only works because it causes too much damage for it to survive. Anything less, and it will keep on living. And for such an overt attempt on their Ghost's life, the Guardians will hunt you down and hang you by your entrails."

"Lovely." Torchwick groaned. "So what _are_ we going to do about them?"

"Nothing, for now." Uldren said. "We have all the materials we need right now. Our only objective now is to search those ruins we found for a way back to my universe. Were you will all be _richly_ rewarded for your contributions to The Reef." He turned back to the TV, the news lady _still_ going on about the Guardians.

"Now silence. I must see if they mention anything that could be of use to our goals."

* * *

"…With wilfully given permission, Atlesian scientists have discovered that while looking similar to our own technology, their weapons and armour are in face decades or even centuries ahead of our own, able to utilise some manner of energy similar to Dust to achieve impossible acts…" Lisa Lavender continued speaking, but Teams RWBY, JNPR, and Sun and Neptune weren't paying attention anymore. Instead, they were all focusing on Team RWBY and the shocking news they had just delivered.

"So let me get this straight." Sun said slowly. "You guys knew that the badass awesome chicks who have been kicking ass were actually aliens this _whole time_?!"

"Yeah." Nora said, getting right up in their faces. "You really should've told us that you were buddies with life from outer space. I've always wanted to meet an alien, and you guys never even told me." She pulled back in a huff, crossing her arms. "Some friends you guys are."

"Nora, you've only wanted to meet an alien since ten minutes ago." Ren said in a tired voice. "You've always wanted to meet a juggling Ursa wearing a top hat and speaking in a posh accent. Named Freddy."

"We only learnt that they were aliens the night before." Ruby replied, one hand rubbing her hair nervously.

"Though we've had our suspicions for weeks now." Weiss added, making it out like they weren't _oblivious_.

"And you guys kept quiet? Dude, this is the biggest thing ever. It's real proof that we aren't alone in the universe. There's actual life beyond the stars, waiting to find us." Sun said excitedly.

"And where there's life, there's hot chicks." Neptune added.

"From what they've shown and told us, most life out there wants to kill us for simply existing." Blake said waspishly. "They've yet to meet a species that _hasn't_ wanted to kill humanity. So in all honesty, I'd be happy if the rest of the universe stayed _far away_ from here."

"What _I_ don't get is why they're suddenly on the news." Yang said. "Do you think Ozpin found out about them? Or maybe they had to talk to get their ship back. I'm pretty sure that any kingdom that got their hands on a working spaceship would be over the moon with joy."

Ruby pulled away from the group. "Well, we aren't going to find out why standing around and listening to the news. Let's go and get it from the horse's mouth." And she led the charge for the dormitories.

* * *

"…Another discovery made is that this is not, in fact, the _first time_ alien life has found its way to Remnant." Lisa Lavender continued saying. "In fact, thanks to studies by both the Guardians _and_ Atlesian scientists, we can now confirm that the legends of The Star and the Shadow both refer to beings from beyond the stars. One came here to help uplift us, while the other came for the intent purpose of destroying everything the former held dear…" Bianca sighed as she watched Tyrion's feed of the news.

"Can't believe that they put us on the news." She said, cradling her head in one hand. Behind her, Ti'ana was moving the drawers and the bed to cover the door. Behind _it_, they kept hearing the sound of banging.

"What'd you expect?" She said, barely straining as she lifted the heavy bed onto its end, slamming it against the door. "To him, just the three of us should've been an easy capture and interrogation. Instead, we managed to kick his men's asses with ease, two of us escaped, and you managed to break free and nearly made it out. He's not gonna let this go without some retribution." She dusted off her hands and leaned against the wall. "His pride's been wounded. At least he didn't try to arrange an _interview_ with us."

Bianca snorted. Yeah, that would've been harder than capturing them in the first place. "Bet he wouldn't be happy if we mentioned that he's got a captured spaceship right underneath Beacon. Some people might take offence to something like that."

"They would. Especially since my scans show that it was captured over two decades ago." Little Light added. They both stood there, listening to the people trying to get in. Ti'ana wondered what they all wanted in for. Probably to ask questions, or insult them for not being 'human'. Yeah, probably something stupid like that.

"How's Katie doing fixing up her ship?" Bianca asked after several seconds, turning away from the screen. Lisa was currently talking to an expert of legends, asking him how the presences of aliens alter them in any way.

"Let me check." Ti'ana replied, Little Light already calling her up. Katie's voice sounded loud and clear.

"…Goddamn piece of fucking crap!" She cursed loudly. "Get in. You. Stupid. Piece. Of. Junk." She growled. "Look at the scuff on the paint. And what the fuck have they done with the fuel lines? _Why_ were they even hanging in the first place? I swear, if I find the asshole who messed with my ship, I'm gonna grab the nearest combustion engine, and ram it right up their…" Wisely, Light or Dinklebot ended the call at that point. Ti'ana looked at Bianca.

"…So yeah. She's not taking this well." She summed up. There was a knocking sound coming from the window. With a hand wrapped around their guns, they turned as one. And they were surprised to see Ruby pressed against the glass, waving wildly as she gripped the wall. Ti'ana quickly opened the window, and Ruby fell on top of her.

"Ruby? What the hell are you doing out there?" Ti'ana asked, even as she pushed her aside. She looked up and squeaked as more people fell on top of her, grumbling as she struggled free. "And why are these guys here too?"

Neptune hugged the carpet intently. "Oh thank god. Oh sweet, sweet ground. Why is it that everytime we go to see someone on the second floor, we can never go in through the door? Why is it always the window?"

"Because the door's blocked by everything in the room." Sun said, spotting their barricade. "Man, those guys are _really_ keen on talking to you guys."

"Talking, or lynching?" Bianca asked, checking that there was no one else before closing the windows again. "Ok, let's just get this out of the way. What do you guys want?"

"For starters, why are you guys the biggest story in Remnant all of a sudden?" Yang asked. "You acted like you were trying to stay under the radar, not become news headlines."

"We didn't really have much of a choice." Ti'ana replied. "Well, no actually. We _did_ have a choice. But the alternative was that we'd get hunted down and thrown into labs. This seemed like the easier option… At least, at the time."

"We discovered a 'coded' message about Katie's missing ship, and a larger vessel known as a Ketch. We all went down to investigate, but it turned out to be a trap. Luckily, we managed to fight our way through and escape. For the most part." Bianca said.

"Bianca got captured. We went to rescue her, she rescued herself; Ozpin revealed that he already knew we weren't from Remnant; and General Ironwood had to let us go."

"But not before making us agree to discuss certain non-classified information with his men. And agree to this whole drama." She waved a hand at the door.

"Ironwood has an alien vessel?" Blake asked suspiciously.

"Yeah. A Ketch belonging to the Fallen. They were chased here by their own people."

"And he's been hiding it all this time? Why would he hide _that_ but not you guys?"

"I think he's a bit sore that we whooped his men." Ti'ana answered.

"_And_ because we ended up having to kill some of them." Bianca added.

"That too." They all stood there in awkward silence, processing what they've heard.

"So… What now?" Ruby asked. Ti'ana shrugged.

"Ironwood's _begrudgingly_ agreed to help us find anything that could help us get home, in exchange for information and helping your people hunt down the White Fang active in Vale. But until then… Not much really. At least we don't need to skulk and sneak around anymore. I'm telling you, Titans are not built for sneaking."

"So you're just going to stay in your room until Atlas needs your help? Doesn't seem all that productive." Weiss said.

Bianca gave her a strict look. "Well unless one of you guys has a way to get _those guys_ off our backs, I think that's all we _can_ do."

"You _could_ try just talking to them. No one said that they're planning on killing you three for being aliens."

"Actually, several comments online have highly suggested such an act." Light piped up. "Their reasoning ranges from 'they are actually an assassination group sent in to help their overlords take control' right down to 'they're aliens'."

"Yeowch." Sun said, wincing in sympathy.

"And why do you care?" Yang asked. "I mean, it's not like they can kill you guys."

"Just because we can't die doesn't mean that we're ok with people killing us over and over again." Ti'ana said.

"Wait, hold on." Neptune waved his hands in the universal 'time-out' signal. "You guys are incapable of dying? You're immortal?"

"I wouldn't say that we can't die. It's just that dying isn't so final for Guardians." Ti'ana shrugged. "Still a pain though."

"Maybe you should let us talk to them." Ruby offered. "We could find out what they want."

"Yeah." Yang agreed. "And if they want to lynch you guys, we can kick their asses."

"Yeah. Fight time." Nora said excitedly. The two Guardians looked at each other and shrugged. Well, it was better than being under voluntary house arrest. They and their ghosts helped to move everything out of the way, allowing Yang and Ruby to open the door. Immediately they were assaulted by many voices practically screaming. It was difficult to tell, but they managed to pick out some lone voices amongst the hubbub.

"What species are you?"

"Can your ships _really_ go to outer space?"

"What food do you eat?"

"Are you guys from another planet in the solar system?"

"Did your people crack the moon?"

"Are the Hive alien invaders?"

"Can you show us how you _really_ fight?"

They were all asking questions. Good ones, bad ones, but nothing suggested that any of them were here in order to attack them. Ti'ana poked her head round the corner, and the crowd started screaming louder, almost buffeting her with questions. Right. Her helmet. She had forgotten about that. But if all they want is answers, then maybe that was they really needed. She stepped into the doorframe, pushing Ruby gently to one side. She cleared her throat, and everyone went silent.

"Ok then. We'll answer some of your questions then. Just… just try to stay calm."

* * *

"…However, there are many uneasy questions that must now be asked from learning that we are not alone in the universe. Among those questions is a new look at the old, now heavily forbidden, question on whether or not Faunus are indeed as natural as they have claimed. Many scientists researching such answers believe that the answer itself is not what's truly important, but whether which side created them. Another, more pressing question, is whether the Grimm and the few Hive encountered in the Forever Fall Forest are the only agents of 'The Shadow' active on Remnant. If not, there could very be an attacking army waiting for a signal to commence attacking as we speak…" Ironwood watched the news impassively, mind already whirring as he pondered how this will change life on Remnant. They will need to start placing some form of early-warning system into orbit as soon as possible of course. If they had that to begin with, perhaps they would've caught the Guardians before they were prepared. Or more likely, it would've just been a bigger bloodbath than it already had been. Behind him, he heard the door open with a hiss. He didn't turn to greet his visitor; he already knew who it would be.

"The citizens need to know the truth Ozpin." He said. "They need to be aware that we aren't alone out here."

Ozpin frowned. "And yet you were willing to keep the existence of the Ketch and all the Fallen knowledge on board hidden." He was watching the news as well. "I noticed that Miss Lavender didn't mention anything about either of those."

"The Ketch and all its information is safely in our hands. The Guardians though, are wild cards." He explained. "Besides, you and I both agreed that we couldn't say anything about alien life when we claimed the ship. You said that it would be too dangerous without proper investigation.

"And you said that it was too dangerous to let it fall into the wrong hands." Ozpin took a sip of his coffee, watching as the news showed two angry crowds facing off against each other, officers standing between them. One quick glance showed that one crowd was adorned with animal ears and horns and features, while the other had only signs. "And yet the simple act of confirming that we are not alone has already done incredible damage."

"Those rumours aren't my fault." Ironwood argued.

"But they're happening. Just the act of admitting that we have already met aliens and that _they_ created the Grimm has almost undone all the goodwill humans and Faunus have made since the Faunus Rights Revolution. People are already saying that they should take the Guardians technology for ourselves. I've received _several_ emails from people who are upset that I have had aliens working at my academy."

"You're exaggerating. And as for that last one, well you've only got yourself to blame. Glynda told you that it was a bad idea. _I_ told you that it was a bad idea."

"And without that 'bad' idea, you would've had far more bodies to bury." Ozpin gave him a stern look, before sighing. "Ironwood, let's stop pretending this is about the truth, or public safety, or any of the other reasons I'm sure you've prepared to justify this. You're upset and angry that men died under your watch for no reason, and you're leaking info just to spite them. This is all one big temper tantrum."

Ironwood clenched his fists. "…They were good men. Strong dependable, brave. They would've given their lives to defend Remnant from any threat, no matter how great it was. And they gave it in vain. Those Guardians butchered them, and we had to let them go." He finally turned to face Ozpin, frowning deeply. "And what about their families? Could you honestly say that you could look them in the eye and tell them that their children were killed in a 'freak Grimm attack'? Or by White Fang soldiers?" Ozpin looked away, his answer evident. Ironwood released a breath he didn't realise he had been holding. Now that his anger was gone, he just felt drained. "It just felt easier and more fulfilling to just blow their cover. I'm not entirely happy with what I've done, but I can't take it back now. I have to live with my choices." Ozpin turned away, heading back for the door. He stopped though, when Ironwood called out to him. "Was this how you felt about our teams? ONYX and JETZ? How we were the only two survivors?"

Ozpin nodded. "Always." And he left Ironwood on his lonesome.

* * *

Katie normally wasn't controlled by her emotions (not like Ti'ana and Bianca could be at times at any rate), preferring instead to be guided by what seemed the most fun at the time. But that didn't mean she was incapable of getting angry. And right now, the mangled parts of her ship were making her _very_ angry.

"Grr. Stupid… thing." She growled, holding onto a fuel line. It was _supposed_ to thread through several plates and link up with a compressor attached to the underside panels. But instead, it was currently caught between two cracked panels, wedged tightly enough that it seemed likely to be shorn in two. Normally she would just have Dinklebot digitalise the fuel line and materialise it within its proper placing. But he was currently busy finishing up welding the wing back on. She slapped her hand against the cracked metal, before forcing her fingers into the gap. She thought she could hear her servos whine as she forced the metal apart, just enough to get the pipe out. It started moving, dangling down some more as it was freed up. She adjusted her grip, getting ready to grab the pipe and push it up…

As she moved her right hand, the straining metal was too much for her. It wrenched free of her grip and closed like a clamp on her left hand. At the same time, the fuel line ripped against the jagged metal, fuel spraying out of the opening at full burst right at her face. Her pain receptors lit up, and she yelled just in time to get a mouthful of fuel. She tried to pull free, but she was caught. She could only stand there and fume in sheer anger.

"Ghost!" She cried out angrily. "Ghost, get your floating ass over here!" She cursed some more as she tried to wrench her hand free, the receptors blaring in her head. Where the hell is he? "Ghost!"

"I'm coming already." His voice sounded in her head, his annoyance highly noticeable. "Pardon me if I want to make sure the wing doesn't fall off like…" His voice stopped. Turning slightly, she could see him staring at her predicament. "What happened to you?"

"What does it _look_ like happened? My hand is caught is this death-trap. Now get me out of here this instant." She winced as she turned too much, the servos in her wrist grating.

"You know, it wouldn't kill you to say 'please'." Dinklebot replied, floating over to her trapped hand. On the way, he pulled apart the metal around the fuel line and sealed it, stopping it from blasting them.

"Dinkle, I am mere _seconds_ away from hacking my arm off. I am _not_ in the mood for pleasantries." He tutted, but wrenched apart the metal widely enough to pull free. She gasped as she did so, cradling her hand as she crouched down. You didn't need to know Exo physiology to notice how dented it was. But even as she gazed upon it, the metal that made up her flesh started smoothing out, and an exposed wire threaded back in. Her receptors stopped flashing, and she stopped feeling any pain.

"How about _I_ finish off this area?" Dinklebot suggested. "There's still some panels on top that need aligning. As long as you don't force anything, you should be able to fix them without my help."

"…Fine." She muttered, hopping off the platform she was on and heading for a nearby ladder. She climbed up, muttering under her breath as she took in every dent and scar in the metal. Damn those Atlas pricks, wrecking her shit like this. And guess who had to put the whole thing back together again. Her.

And despite Dinkle's assurance that this would be easier, the panels refused to stay shut. He floated up to her side and said something, but honestly she wasn't paying attention. She was too busy trying to push some kind of shield generator back into its slot.

"_Come ooonnn_." She growled, pushing down with both hands. "Just another inch. I just need you to go down an inch more." But no matter how much she twisted and turned it, it refused to go down. It was when it wouldn't even turn that her temper, already frayed by the fuel line, finally snapped. "Goddamn piece of fucking crap!" She cursed loudly. "Get in. You. Stupid. Piece. Of. Junk." She pushed down with every word, venting her frustration and outrage. "Look at the scuff on the paint. And what the fuck have they done with the fuel lines? _Why_ were they even hanging in the first place? I swear, if I find the asshole who messed with my ship, I'm gonna grab the nearest combustion engine, and ram it right up their fucking ass!" A beam of light hit the generator, twisting it to the left and dropping it. The panel closed over it, smoothing over as it closed. She took a deep sigh, flopping back and lying down as Dinklebot hovered before her. If she had to guess his expression, it would've been sheepish. "Easy, huh?"

"If you think _that's_ bad, Ti'ana was on the line when you started exploding. I tried to tell you, but I don't think you were listening." He said.

"Great." She sighed again. "What I wouldn't give for a Tower Hanger crew right now. I mean, have you _seen_ some of the scrap that they get working again?"

"Really? I thought the rumours that they could make a ship out of a wire frame was just boasting. In that case, please don't inform them that I did most of the work. We Ghosts have standards we must uphold." His eye blinked as they heard the sound of steps on metal. She materialised her Bad Juju. Normally, the odds of getting attacked in a hanger bay would be pretty slim.

Then again, normally the entire world didn't know that she wasn't really human.

She levelled her rifle with the top of the ladder, waiting for whoever was climbing up. Piece by piece they revealed themselves. A slightly off-kilter pink bow; curly orange hair with a large cowlick; vibrant freckles; a cheerful expression turning scared…

Katie blinked. "You. You're the girl from the first night." She didn't pull her rifle away. "What the hell does Atlas want with me right now?"

The girl stopped climbing. "They don't. They don't want anything. In fact, they don't even know I'm here. I haven't been ordered to do anything. I mean, to you. Right now. I'm sure they've probably got _some_ order ready involving you, but I haven't…"

"Stop right there, calculator." She interrupted her. "I have been having a really shitty day right now. My ship is damaged; we've had to reinstall practically everything; I am drenched in fuel, which is currently trying to work its way into my servos; and I got my fingers jammed between two jagged pieces of metal, so if I weren't a Guardian that would mean that I would likely have a piece of scrap for a limb. If you've got something to say, then say it already. If not, stop bothering me." Instead of doing as she ordered, or even getting frightened, the girl actually seemed even happier. She was jiggling on the step.

"Yes." She squealed. "That's _exactly_ what I'm here for. Oh, this is so exciting."

Katie looked at her in confusion. "What are you, a masochist? You came here to get insulted?"

"Oh, no. No, no. I… I uh…" She shook her head slightly. "You're the first machine I've encountered that hasn't given me a pre-programmed answer."

"Ah." Dinklebot said, understanding. "She wants to chat with another fully-realised artificial intelligence."

"Dinkle, you _know_ that Exos dislike being referred to as 'artificial' intelligence." She scolded him. But despite his word choices, he was probably right. Maybe. She looked back at the girl. "Are you really the only one of your kind?"

She nodded. "I am the only machine on Remnant capable of generating an Aura _and_ creating responses to situations in real time. And now that I've met another, I am not leaving without some answered questions." Katie stared at her some more, before holstering her rifle. Taking this as consent, the girl climbed the rest of the way and sat down next to her on top of the ship. She was still jiggling a bit, blatantly excited. "Oh, we haven't done introductions." She held out her hand. "My identification is Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"…Katie-8." She replied, shaking her hand once.

"Well, it's nice meeting you in the flesh… so to speak. I have so many questions for you." She moved to speak again, but Katie covered her mouth with a hand. She could feel the vibrations of her words through her hand for a few seconds before she stopped.

"Look Penny. I get that you're fit to bursting with questions for me. But you need to take this slow. Ask one at a time. I can't answer multiple questions at once. I'm not some kind of super-computer or Warmind." She pulled her hand away, and Penny visibly slowed herself down.

"Ok then. First question. Who made you? Who made the Exos? You talk like we're a species, like we…" She petered out, likely aware that she was still asking too many questions at once. Katie let her pass on that.

"Don't know how much I can tell you. We were built centuries ago, back during our Golden Age. Hell, we're not even sure _what_ we were built for. But a lot of info suggests that we were soldiers linked up to Warminds. An eternal defence system and army, all rolled up into one. Then again, some intel also suggests that we used to be humans, uploading their brains into mechanical bodies." She shrugged. "All we're really certain about is that at some point, a sub-routine called Deep Stone Crypt gave all of us full sentience and intelligence. Not just the ones who had been human before." She chuckled. "There could've been plenty of problems with your robot servants becoming self-aware, but the Humans apparently took that in their stride. Not one mention of a human/Exo war of any kind."

"So… who makes Exos now?"

"No one. We can't… reproduce in any form. There's only so many Exo in existence, and every one we lose is a permanent loss. All knowledge on our construction was lost in the Collapse. All we've got left is how to _fix_ what's broken."

Penny frowned. "But that would imply that you guys _do_ know how to build more Exos."

"It's not the bodies that are the problem. It's what's up here that's impossible." She tapped her on the head. "There's no surviving algorithm, and our systems change so rapidly that no one can scan it without getting a hundred things wrong. The only reason we aren't extinct already is because we can be fixed, and we're a bitch to kill." She leaned back. "Next question."

"Oh. Well…" She went quiet. "Nevermind. It's stupid."

Katie gave the Exo equivalent of a raised eyebrow. "How about you let the resident Warlock be the judge of that? Ask away." Penny responded with a very human expression of biting her lip. The amount of servos and piston needed to do that… whoever built her wasn't planning on making a production line out of her.

"It's just about your name. Katie-8. Does that mean that you are the eighth Exo to have been designated with that name?"

"Oh, no. Though I understand how you got to that conclusion." While she would've never considered being asked that, she was dreading having to talk about it. "It's just…" She shook her head. "We Exos have been around since everything went wrong. The Collapse, the Dark Ages, the Faction Wars, the Foundry Wars… Have you ever heard of humans wishing that they could forget the horrors they've seen?"

She nodded. "General Ironwood says that it's a side effect of PTSD."

"Well, since our brains are simply systems, motherboards and coding, forgetting things is a hell of a lot easier for us. Wipe the slate clean, forget everything. Sometimes we've wiped from the sheer damage we've taken in a fight. We call it a reboot. The number next to our names refer to how many times we've done it."

Penny stared at her in shock and surprise. "You've… You've done it eight times?"

She nodded. "That's what my system tells me."

"But… But we are the sum of our memories and actions. All people are. To reboot yourself… It's like you've died. And now someone else is walking around in your body."

"Whoa. Hold your horses kid. Not every reboot is a comprehensive one. Most of the time, we keep our personalities and distinct memories. It just… removes memories we don't want to keep." She looked away, staring at a scratch on the ship's surface. "Most of them are things _no one_ wants to remember. The only time I tried to dig down to them with another Exo, it turned out that he had been a head executioner for a madman. He killed himself as soon as he remembered. As in splatter his circuits against the wall." She closed her eyes, remembering when she came across the crime scene. "It taught me a very valuable lesson. Nothing good comes from bringing up an Exo's past. It's better to just live in the here and now."

"…I'm sorry." Penny finally said. "I'm just not… used to the idea that you're so much older than me. I figured that anything as advanced as us would be only a few years old, not centuries."

"It's ok." Katie said wearily. "But how about we just focus on the present for now?" She reached out to touch Penny's cheek, her sensors informing her so much about the quality of it. "Your creator certainly spared no expense on you. You're the first machine I've met with synthetic skin."

She nodded, looking pleased. "He hopes that having this will allow me to blend in with everyone else, and increase my database through interaction with people."

Katie smiled as an idea came to her. This creator of Penny's… if he's like any other scientist, then he'll be very interested in meeting tech similar to his own creations, if only to see what differences were made between them. And she was very keen to meet that man capable of creating the first proto-Exo of this world.

"Say, you don't suppose I could meet this creator of yours?"

* * *

**(2 Nights Later)**

Roman Torchwick walked with purpose as he passed through the late night crowd, slipping easily through the masses. Partly it was because he was trying to keep a low profile – Though most people would hesitate to report a man like him, there was always the odd 'do-gooder' who felt the need to report his every appearance. Such was the price of being infamous in Vale. But the other reason was that he knew _exactly_ where he was going – He's been down this path several times before. He took a left turn down into the alleyway, exiting out on the other side before walking around the cul-de-sac and taking a different alley back onto the road he had been on before. From there, he slinked through the crowd crossing the road to pass through a third alley, which deposited him not far from a flickering streetlamp. People never bothered to complain about it, and whenever the City Council sent someone to check it, it always came up green. He glanced down at his timepiece. Right now, it was 9:58. He whistled tunelessly to himself as he crossed the street to the lamp, leaning against it as he twirled his cane. He stood out far too much there, the only thing on this street lit up. He checked his timepiece again. The seconds counted down slowly. 9:59 and 52 seconds… 54… 55… 56… 57… 58… 59…

As the clock struck 10 hours, the lamp next to him flickered off like clockwork. The soft crunch of tires against the road made him stand up. In front of him, barely visible to the human eye, was a pitch-black van. Two dark shapes exited it, standing on either side of him. Neither made a sound. Rolling his eyes, Roman went through the motions. One of the men collected his cane, his pocket watch, and his scroll. The other wrapped a band around his head before placing a pillow case over his head. They both then escorted him into the van. By the time the light had flickered back on, the van and its occupants were gone.

Roman didn't bother memorising the turns of the trip. He had quickly found out that the van took a different path every drive. Sometimes it would take only ten minutes to reach their destination. Other times it could be half an hour or more. But they always made their way to the same non-descript building, where the inside could've belonged to any building. Plasterboard walls, cheap desks, movable trolleys… everything built to be moved in mere moments. This time was no different. The van pulled to a stop. The guards escorted him to a hard metal chair. Clamps sealed over his arms and legs, leaving only his head free. Seconds would pass without any noise. And then the hood and the mask would be pulled away, leaving him blinking in the intense light. And opposite him was a blurred shape, its gender and features unknowable.

Roman smiled as he tried his best to appear relaxed. "I see that my suggestion for something more professional than a pillowcase was ignored yet again." He said, looking directly at the shape before him. "Along with the thought that maybe you don't need to lock me into this chair everytime I visit. In all honesty Julius, I'm thinking that you don't like having guests over."

The shape harrumphed, and the blinding light was turned off. Now they were lit by more normal lights, allowing him to see more clearly. The man before him was old. Much older than anyone else he had met. He had the stooped back and wild beard and hair of a stereotypical grandfather, his eyes bulging behind wire-rimmed glasses. His get-up was finished off by a woollen vest over a tweed shirt, the hem tucked into his too-tall pants. But behind those eyes was the instinct of a dangerous man. He wouldn't hesitate to make unexpected visitors disappear forever.

This seemingly harmless old man was Julius Primrose, the best hacker in all of Vale.

Julius licked his lips before speaking. "Why waste time and good money on some expensive hood when the common touch works just as fine? The problem with you, Torchwick, is that you're far too concerned with your image, using drama for drama's sake." He tapped at his armband, and the restraints were released. At the same time, four guards stepped out of the shadows, their bodies adorned with the cracked and scarred plating of the 130 range Atlesian Knights. Two immediately took up position next to Julius, while the other two kept close to Roman.

He snorted. "This coming from the guy who favours meeting under a broken lamp at ten on the dot. We both like drama; I'm just willing to admit it."

"Enough." Julius interrupted. "I'm assuming you're here to procure my services again." One droid handed Torchwick back his scroll. He went through it until he found the specifications for what he wanted.

"You'll like this order Jules. A worthy test of your skills for… well, quite a long while."

"That's what everyone says."

"Ah, but I'm speaking honestly. A first, I know, but it happens." Julius frowned, wanting him to get to the point. "What I need from you is a program that can do two things for me. I need it to be able to hack the CCT and pull out everything Atlas has on 'unusual data', transmitting everything back to my computers. But at the same time, I need it to hack for Vale City security codes in a way that it's obvious, but looks like we're trying to hide it at the same time. Think a genius like you can do that?"

Julius smirked, a nasty glint in his eyes. It was at moments like this that he stopped looking like some kindly grandfather, and more like a killer. "Unusual data? Roman, please don't insult us both by assuming that I'm dim-witted. You're interested in the aliens. _And_ if Atlas knows more about them than they're telling us."

Roman's own smile became thin-lipped. "Should've known you've heard about them."

"Heard about them? I doubt there's anyone on the planet who hasn't been talking about these Guardians." He walked over to a debilitated computer, tapping it once to bring up holo-screens. Entire reams of data scrolled by in a flash, pictures and graphs appearing and disappearing. "The fact that we aren't actually alone in the universe? It's the most talked about concept since scientists started wondering where exactly the Grimm come from. Seven million people fear what they represent. Nine hundred thousand are cooking up conspiracy theories. Three hundred and fifty thousand are currently plotting on killing the aliens before they can take over. And none of it shows a hint of slowing down anytime soon. The Vytal Festival's been completely overshadowed by this news." He turned and looked back at Roman, eyes glinting nastily. "But one has to wonder what exactly a formerly small-time crook wants with that data."

Roman decided it was best to lay _some_ cards on the table. Keep Julius sated for now. He gave him a disarming smile. "Let's just say that I'm the face for someone else right now. Someone who's very keen on getting this kind of info. Someone intrigued by the idea of life beyond the stars."

"Someone who knows more about these aliens than the rest of us." Julius interrupted. A shiver ran down Roman's spine. Damn him for being so intuitive.

"What makes you think my employer knows more about them?"

"Because he wants to create a smokescreen, make Atlas think that they found your little hack while the real work remains hidden. You wouldn't do that unless you're worried that these Guardians could figure it out and trace your virus back to you. And killing them can't be on the table, or else you'd just do that instead. What's one little breaking and entering compared to the death of alien life?"

Roman sighed in frustration. "You want to know what _we_ know." He guessed.

"Yes." Julius said bluntly. "However, I'm willing to make a trade." He tapped at his computer again, and different data appeared. "Nothing about this makes sense. Why would Atlas announce Alien life if no one outside of Ironwood's organisation were aware of them? How do they know so much already?" He pointed to a list of names. "All these men were killed in the line of duty while working under General Ironwood. According to my own data, they were all safely within the borders of Vale at the time of their demises. Some were even killed within their 'secret' base. What happened, I wonder?" He turned back to Roman. "This will be my trickiest coding yet. Things would work much smoother if I were secure in the knowledge of receiving access to their data as well."

"Well darn." Roman sighed dramatically. "I'd love to help you out there Julius. Really. But some more paranoid people might suggest that you'd be willing to sell this data to the highest bidder if given half the chance. And if you were to see something that could suggest a threat to Remnant… Well, _I_ know that the Council would be the last people you'd tell about this. But the more paranoid of us might not feel the same way. Couldn't you just live with the knowledge that you managed to bamboozle advanced aliens and their supercomputers instead?"

But Julius wasn't swayed. "In order to 'bamboozle' these aliens, they'd need to be aware that I was there in the first place. And your precise instructions are most likely meant to make sure that they never bother to look at my coding." He shook his head. "No. If you and your employer aren't willing to let me look at whatever Atlas is hiding from us, then I'm afraid that I'll be charging triple for this job. I'll satisfy my bank account if I can't satisfy my curiosity." A raised eyebrow was Roman's only _outward_ sign of shock and outrage. Julius wasn't cheap at the best of times. Having to pay up triple was going to stretch their funds to their limits.

"I suppose what my boss doesn't know can't hurt him, right?" He said carefully, giving a forced grin. Julius replied with a triumphant look. He sat down at his computer and immediately got to work, streams of data flowing over the screen like water.

"A personal rule I made for myself is that I'd _never_ sell information the moment I receive it." He explained, barely looking up from his work. "You'll have a week from when you receive the data before it's on the market. Long enough for you to be done with whatever you want. Now, was there a specific date you want this completed by, or just as soon as it can be done?"

Roman smiled as he flicked a lien card through the scanner before him. "We want this ready in time for the Beacon Dance." He replied.

* * *

**Well, I guess that the cat's out of the bag now.**

**I don't really know what made me decide to start with Ironwood informing the press about the existence of the Guardians. Maybe it was that I wanted to get away from having them coming up with silly excuses all the time. Maybe I thought it would shake things up a little. Maybe it was just that it seemed funny to me. But it's happened. Remnant knows that aliens exist. And as you can tell, quiet a number aren't all that happy about it.**

**Shame that it means that Ironwood doesn't look much better now. I suppose that's something I'll have to work on when a chance finally pops up.**

**Now, I don't know if I explained this before anywhere, but Ironwood and Ozpin in this story were part of two separate Huntsmen teams who managed to find a way down to where the Ketch was. They were attacked by the Fallen while exploring, and had to kill all of them to survive. But given how they had to fight all their crew without knowing what they could do, they lost plenty of members. By the time they took out the Archon, Ironwood and Ozpin were the only survivors. I don't actually have a clue what any of their members would've been called because I was just focusing on having team names that had their initials in them and sounded like colours. I'll probably work backwards from that.**

**The virus ide originally came up before Episode 3 came out, but luckily for me I had already came up with a good reason for why Cinder was putting it in. And of course Roman doesn't want the Guardians to know about it. Story wise, the only thing you encounter that's able to block your Ghosts is Rasputin, a Warmind able to match a species that can predict the universe with 100% accuracy. Anything else gets hacked (but not without alerting every enemy within the area to your work). A man-made virus, no matter how advanced, is barely going to be a road bump to a Ghost.**

**And finally, I want to talk about Episode 3 of RWBY Season 3. Seeing Qrow in action was awesome, and it made me realise that my Guardians are actually outclassed compared to a fully-trained Huntsman. I **_**do**_** have plans to try and even the odds, but right now I feel that a Guardian's biggest advantage is that they can keep coming back, winning through attrition. At the same time, when my Guardians get back to Destiny, I might have to up their opponents just to make it fair again. We'll just have to see where this story takes us.**

**Next time though, we're finally gonna see the Guardians wearing something other than armour. Yay!**


	10. A Night Out On the Town

**Ok. After four months (and two too many weeks just getting past my writer's block) we now have another chapter of Guardians and Hunters. And a lot has happened in those four months.**

**First, let's talk about RWBY Volume 3. I can't remember if it was playing when I last wrote a chapter. But for those who haven't watched it yet… What are you waiting for? Go and watch the entire volume, it is awesome. Don't worry, we'll wait for you.**

…**And welcome back.**

**Now, I have to say that Volume 3 was a wonderful season. We got more cool fight scenes, we got new characters, and we finally got an idea of what the hell Cinder is after. (Seriously. I know that it's good to be mysterious for a season or two, but it makes it hard for us fanfic writers to know what the bad guy's plans are.) And it definitely ended on a different note. I'm the kind of guy who likes it when the good guys win outright, but I still think it was a really good ending. It really changed things up now that Beacon's been overrun, Cinder pretty much won, and Yang lost an arm. And you can kind of track this ending across the last two volumes. Volume 1 ended with the good guys beating off Roman before he could steal anything. Volume 2 ended with a victory, but there was still some damage caused by the Grimm attack. And now Volume 3 ends mostly in the villains favour.**

**That said, there **_**is**_** one thing I didn't like about Volume 3. Roman's death. That guy was awesome, and Gray Haddock really made him stand out even more. I always felt that Roman was the kind of villain who would survive till the end of the show, and probably end it better off than he started. Instead, he died. Got eaten alive by a Griffon, then Ruby kicked that Griffon into the airship, and **_**then**_** the airship crashed and exploded. Seemed... Well, I guess we just didn't want Roman to die at all.**

**On the plus side, now we can have Neo in a revenge plot. Given how Roman reacted to her blowing off the airship it's obvious that they care about each other (Lovers? Siblings?) and I bet she'd want revenge on the one person she knows was there; Ruby Rose. I just hope that she ends up talking though. Talking about how you want revenge isn't as effective if you don't actually talk. And since we've never heard her speak, she could use it to lure Ruby into a trap. Genius.**

**Ok, enough fanboying from me. Time to get into the story itself.**

* * *

**Chapter 10: A Night Out On the Town**

It was the night of the Beacon Dance. A school dance arranged to give the students time to themselves. A night of dancing and socialising, of seeing old friends and catching up, or just relaxing after a long series of missions.

For the Guardians, it was the first time in living memory they ever attended a formal ball.

"Hmm. I don't know, Light." Ti'ana mused. "I just don't think Blue's a good colour. I kinda… kinda… What the opposite word for clash?"

"Blend in?" He offered dryly. He was projecting an image of her, clad in a sea blue dress. "I suppose you may have a point there. How about yellow then?" The dress changed colour, turning a canary yellow. She waved a hand, and the image rotated.

"Too… clashy. And too bright."

Light sighed. "You know, this would be so much easier if you knew what you actually _wanted_."

"But I _don't_ know what I want. This is new territory for me, ok? Like when we first encountered the Cabal and those stupid shields. Anyway, why aren't you helping? You should know lots about dresses."

"Funnily enough, the Traveller never bothered to teach me the fine nuances of dress-making."

"Well that's dumb. You're supposed to know everything I need help with." She hemmed and hawed as she looked at the image. "Ah screw it. Give me the scroll again. I'll restart from scratch. Again."

"Maybe this time we should also research the current styles of dress used in Remnant." Light suggested, materialising the frame of a scroll. "Use them as reference points."

"I _know_ what a dress looks like. It's just… hard, coming up with something unique. We're famous now as life from another planet. We can't just show up in something off the shelves. It has to stand out."

"So, in your eyes the fact that you're technically human means that you have to wear an unusual dress?"

"Shut up." She replied weakly, brow furrowed as she worked on the rough sketch. She growled as she wiped away the horrid mess, starting over again. She barely heard the door opening, so focused as she was on her drawing. It was only when she felt someone pushing down on her shoulders that she realised that she had company.

Katie leaned down to look at the scroll better, head tilting as she tried to make sense of the drawing. "Huh. Is that meant to be spaghetti or a cake?"

"It's _supposed_ to be a dress for the ball." Ti'ana replied, twisting free of her grip. Katie flopped down onto the bed, bouncing a little. "It's just… having some… 'issues'."

"You're actually planning on going?" Bianca asked her.

"Sure. Why not? It's a chance to celebrate, to have some fun. Like a dance off back at the Tower. And besides, this'll probably be our only chance to attend a real ball."

"Not for me. I'm gonna survive till we beat The Darkness and rebuild everything." Katie replied jovially, now lying on her back and kicking her legs.

"We don't even know if we'll live long enough for that. I'd rather get _this_ ball under my belt and later attend others than miss out altogether." She groaned as her next attempt went even worse. "Just wish that designing a dress wasn't so Traveller-damn hard."

"You do realise that we'll probably end up getting mobbed by everyone out there wanting to learn our secrets, right? Not to mention the bigots, the bullies, and anyone who has a bone to pick with us." Bianca pointed out.

"Oh come on. There can't be _that_ many of them."

"Public opinion about us has dropped amongst the Faunus population." Light told her. "Likely because our existence has people wondering whether or not the Faunus are actually natural." A pause. "They _have_ been altered, though I doubt we'll make any friends by pointing that out."

Ti'ana shrugged. "So what? Even if they kill us we'll be back within seconds. I'm not missing out because some idiots want to blame us for their problems." She finished sketching now, finally satisfied with her drawing. It wasn't a masterpiece (a Da Vinci or Picasso, as people used to say) but it was adequate enough that Light _should_ be able to make something from it. She returned the scroll to him, before kicking back and leaning against the bed. "We can handle ourselves. Tonight's all about having some fun."

Bianca gave a small smile. "Well, I suppose it won't hurt too much. It'll probably just be our prides as everyone laughs at our dancing."

"Hey, our dancing's good. It's no waltz or whatever they call it, but it's good." She turned to look at Katie, who was busy with her own scroll. "What about you? What do you think?"

"Me?" Katie gave them a smile, rolling over to show them her drawing.

"I'm thinking… straps. Lots of straps."

* * *

_Stupid stilt heels._ Ruby thought to herself as she tried her best to keep standing upright. _How does Weiss even walk around in these things, let alone fight and dance and run? _She felt like any second she would topple over, like a tree that had been chopped down.

And what made it feel worse was that everyone else was doing perfectly fine in them. There was probably some dumb class back at Signal specially for heels.

Without much to do right now, she slowly tottered her way back towards Yang, who was manning the door. Her big sister looked up and giggled as she saw her stumbling about, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her to safety. "Ruby, you look ridiculous. So adorable, but totally ridiculous." She giggled.

"Eh heh heh heh." Ruby mocked laughed, grabbing the stand before her firmly. "Laugh it up, Yang. As soon as I get my boots back, I'll kick your ass on the dance floor."

Yang gasped. "Ruby. You cannot go to the dance in boots. I'll have to listen as your dainty footsteps turn into loud clomping. Your feet are too small to waste in big boots."

"So does that mean that armoured greaves aren't allowed either?" Ti'ana's voice said, sounding amused. They both turned towards her, and gasped as they saw her.

She and the other Guardians were looking _very_ fetching in fancy dresses. Ti'ana wore a golden strapless dress, the very top curving over her chest. Her arms were covered in golden gloves that reached past her elbows, while a leg covered in small ornate plating peeking out of the long slit down the side of her dress. The dress itself reached down almost to the ground, and silvery planets and stars moved over the surface. She gave a little twirl, her hem flaring out as she moved, and let them see that there wasn't a back to her dress. It just flowed down her body to stop above her waist, leaving her blue skin bared. Her hair had golden streaks weaved into it, ending with a flower above her right ear.

Bianca had gone for something less ornate. Her dress was shorter at the front, with two long tails touching the ground. This allowed her to show off her long legs and her red stilettos. The rest of the white dress covered her front, tied up behind her neck. A series of holes and loops adorned the front, showing patches of her belly. Bracelets and armbands adorned her arms. And there was a long red cloth hanging down her back over one shoulder, like a cape.

And Katie's… Well. It was made up of white straps. Lots of straps. Enough to not be indecent, but few enough to be alluring. The straps themselves stopped just low enough to cover her, while a second layer of transparent cloth hung even lower. And covered her arms. It was kinda like she was pretending to be a belly dancer. And through the gaps and the fabric, Ruby could see metal plating peeking out, along with two rubbery-looking sacs bound at chest height.

She wouldn't say that Katie was ugly or anything… But it still felt a little weird, seeing raw plating where skin should be.

Yang recovered first. "Hey ladies. I wasn't sure if you were going to show up or not. Love the look though. _Very_ unique."

"Thanks." Ti'ana said gratefully. "You won't believe how hard it to come up with a dress."

"Yes. Imagine how much worse it would've been if you had to work with the current style." Her Ghost, Little Light, snarked at her, materialising next to her head. He had created a little holographic bowtie for the occasion. Ti'ana flicked at him in response.

Ruby leaned forward a bit, trying to look at the back of her dress again. "How… exactly does that stay up? Or on?" She knew enough about clothing that she was _reasonably_ sure that it should've fallen off her by now.

"Space magic?" Ti'ana offered.

"_Lots_ of space magic." Light added.

Yang and Ruby looked at each other, and shrugged. Space magic sounded legit. "Well don't just stand at the front door all night. Come on in and have some fun."

"Don't mind if we do." Katie said, practically bouncing into the room. "Now, where's the biggest, hunkiest guy here? I wanna rub against the abs." And then she was gone, already lost in the crowd. Well, as lost as you can get when everyone's turning to look at you.

"And there she goes. Well, I suppose I should find a dance partner too." Bianca said. "Maybe get something to eat. I mean, what do you even do at a ball anyway?" She kept muttering to herself as she walked off, leaving Ti'ana alone with the girls. She gave them an encouraging smile, before heading into the chaos. She didn't make it very far before running into Ozpin.

"Miss Ti'ana. You're looking lovely tonight." He said, nodding his head at her. "I see that you're already gaining the attention of potential partners." And indeed, he was right. Just as Katie's metal skin had drawn people's attention, her blue skin and white hair stood out amidst the lights. People were openly staring at her, some of the men admiring her. She shrugged them off. While back on Earth there had been a few Awoken, they were still rare enough that most people outside of the Towers had stared whenever they saw them. She was used to people staring.

It was when they started insulting her that things got annoying.

"Well seeing as you're the only one brave enough to actually talk to me, may I have this dance?" She held out her arm, waiting for him. Ozpin smiled and took her hand, kissing it lightly.

"I'd be honoured. After all, it's not every day one can say they danced with an extra-terrestrial."

"It's not every day a Guardian can say she went to a ball." She replied, letting him steer her onto the dance floor. "Just need to load something before we start. Light, we good?"

"We're good. One 'Ballroom Blitz for Dummies', ready and waiting." Light answered, still floating over her shoulder. He lifted a bit higher to hover over her head, likely to stay out of the way.

"Good. Then let's dance." The hidden servos and wires in her dress activated, pulling at her limbs. As always when the onboard programs came to life, she relaxed her body. Let it be pulled and twisted.

To his credit, Ozpin kept up well. Probably because he actually _learnt_ this stuff.

She grunted as her body started spinning, before intentionally falling into Ozpin's arms and arcing her back. "Did he load ballroom dancing or gymnastics? I feel like I need to become twice as flexible just to keep up."

"No one said dancing isn't physically intensive." Ozpin replied, pulling her upright and spinning her into his arms before lifting her into the air. "In fact, I find that it's a lot like being on the battlefield. Two people interlocked, moving in sync."

"I've done dancing before." Ti'ana said defensively. "Just… single dancing though. Dancing by myself. And nothing in a dress."

"Well, you're doing just fine. Just relax, and let this program run you through its course. Tonight is about relaxing and having fun."

She smiled as the moves slowed down, going into a slow and easy waltz. As they turned, she spotted Katie dancing with one of the students. Yatsuhashi looked a bit shocked and bewildered. Knowing Katie, she probably just grabbed him out of nowhere. "You know, over seventy percent of a Guardian's time is spent having fun. I think I know a little bit more than about relaxing."

* * *

Bianca felt at a loss as she leaned against the bar, sipping alcohol from a small glass. Katie and Ti'ana had already managed to grab partners for a dance. But everyone kept a slight distance from her. Just enough to be able to slip away if she got close.

_Maybe it's because I look so normal. They can accept Ti'ana and Katie because they don't look as human._ She thought wryly. How ironic, that the human of their team was considered the freakiest. She placed the glass down and grabbed the bottle.

"Uh lady. I'm not sure if it's wise to drink that much." The bartender said, hands raised to grab the bottle from her.

"Relax. My Ghost automatically filters it out and repairs my liver." She said. "I can get him to stop, but tonight you're not gonna have any trouble from me."

"Just let her drink. It'll give her something to do with herself besides brooding away." Tyrion added. The bartender gave the Ghost a strange look, before shrugging and turning away. Bianca went back to her drink.

Katie suddenly appeared next to her, groaning with frustration. "This party sucks. First time I actually get to attend a ball, and no one wants to find a lonely corner with me. Even Yatsuhashi wasn't interested. Ditched me the first chance he got." She nodded at the bartender. "Hey pal. I was told that there would be some oil back here for me. Serve me the whole thing, will ya?" The bartender rolled his eyes, but plopped a bottle of oil before her. She grabbed it and stuck the nozzle in her mouth, sucking it like a straw. "Do you think my dress isn't sensuous enough?"

"I think _that's_ the problem." Bianca replied. "People are probably getting turned off by how lustful you are. They probably find it weird that a machine wants to bone them."

"Oh, so they're ok with sex toys and blow-up dolls, but not both at once?"

"People are funny like that. And isn't Yatsuhashi a minor? It's against the law to sleep with him."

"_Everyone's_ a minor compared to me." She sipped at the oil again. "Mmm. This is some good quality oil. I should see if Ozpin's got more of this stuff."

Bianca slammed the bottle down on the bench, and pushed off from it. "Ok. Pity-fest over. Even if I can't get a dance partner, moving around's got to be better than just waiting the night out here." She walked back into the dancing crowd, noticing again that people were backing away from her. She also found that Katie had joined her as well.

"Yeah, you're right. We're two highly attractive women; it should be easy enough to find a partner. I mean, Ti'ana found someone. Why can't we?"

_Because Ti'ana looks exotic, and Ozpin's a nice guy. I don't look alien enough, and you're __**too**__ alien-looking._ Bianca thought to herself. _Everyone's realising that a twisted and hateful monster of an alien came here before and tried to kill them, and His actions are still felt to this day. And that worries them._ She didn't say any of that aloud though. That would kill the mood faster than a Kell.

She settled for shrugging. "Guess we're just unlucky."

"Yeah, probably." Katie nudged Bianca with her elbow. "Hey, why don't _we_ dance together? You're a hot babe with nice legs, and I'm a pretty machine. We'd be a good couple."

Bianca rolled her eyes. "Only as long as this doesn't end with you trying to convince me out of my dress. I'm seriously getting tired of that."

Though Exos weren't built to express subtle expressions, Katie somehow still managed to give the impression of pouting. "I'm gonna get you into bed with me even if it kills me. Again. And again. And again. Until then…" She stopped, coming to a complete halt. Bianca turned to see what she was looking at, only now hearing people laughing.

Jaune Arc was standing before them, wearing a white dress and sneakers. She raised an eyebrow as she took in his appearance.

"Lost a bet." He said with a slight blush.

"Apparently so." She replied dryly. "What was the bet about?"

Jaune pointed over her shoulder. She turned to see Pyrrha Nikos standing on her own. Just like them. "I said to Pyrrha that if a popular and talented girl like her couldn't get a date for the dance, I'd wear a dress. And an Arc never goes back on his word."

"She doesn't have a date? Miss best-fighter-in-the-school Nikos didn't get asked by anyone?" She was surprised. She had expected her to have lines of boys clamouring to ask her out. "No one at all?"

"No. She told me that they put her so high up that they feel as though she's out of their league, and they shouldn't even bother. She's too popular to be friends with them, she's too pretty to bother with them, and other stuff." He took a deep breath. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a very good friend to ask out and cheer up." He moved around them, people still giggling and laughing as he passed. Bianca smiled, covering it with her hand.

"You know I never noticed this before, but Jaune's got some muscles. Rowr." Katie said, openly admiring him as he and Pyrrha talked. "Think he'd be up for a threesome?" Bianca grabbed her by her ear horn, and pulled her away. "Ow. Ow. Hey, hey. Not the antenna. That's the cutest part of me."

"Don't butt in on their moment." She scolded her, pulling them both back and watching team JNPR dancing. The other students – who had been laughing at Jaune only a few moments ago – were now cheering them on. On the other side of the dancefloor, she saw Ti'ana smiling as she and Ozpin watched. She then vanished into Little Light, floating over to them and reappearing next to them.

"This is turning out to be a great night." She said, resting her arms on their shoulders. "Food, dance, friends, and a great time. If every ball is like this, I wouldn't mind attending more of them."

Bianca nodded, openly smiling. "As soon as they're done, how about we show off _our_ moves? Give them a little example of Tower dancing?"

"Woo!" Katie hollered. "I'm down for a dance-off. Maybe once they see my sweet moves they might get a little more interested in me."

Bianca smiled, nodding at Tyrion. "Ready to play our song?"

"Ready and able." He replied.

* * *

Roman walked through the underground lair, whistling jauntily to himself as he flicked through a scroll, looking over a constant stream of details that was still loading. "Jules, you may be a paranoid greedy old coot, but damn if you're not worth every cent." He murmured to himself. That virus worked perfectly. Everything Atlas knew about the aliens was right at their fingertips. Alien activity and relics, projects derived from 'Fallen' machinery, even things they had found out about the Guardians. He was about to head in and show the fruits of his labour to the boss, but was distracted as he received a message.

"That's _cautious_ greedy old coot to you, Roman." It said, along with a smiley emote. He rolled his eyes at that. Of course Jules would be listening in somehow. He was every security program's nightmare.

Mind you, that's what makes him so valuable.

"I'm guessing you got your pay by now?" Roman said aloud, guessing that Julius had hacked his microphone.

"Indeed. It's actually rather appalling how much Atlas has been keeping from us. All this time we've been trying to find some way of achieving space flight, and here they are with the blueprints for a fully functioning engine. Makes you wonder how much equipment they've got hovering over our heads, spying on us for them. Can't wait to blow this wide open and reveal their lies to the world."

"Give us a couple of days to do our own thing, and I won't stand in your way." Roman replied. "Now please get out of my system. I don't think my boss would like to have you eavesdropping."

"Julius has left your system." A message scrolled. The data stream popped back up, still scrolling away. Roman took the time to smooth down his jacket before heading into the inner chambers.

The Prince and Cinder were already waiting for him. "You're late." Cinder rebuked him.

He waved her off. "Some people spend their nights dancing away. Me, I spend them doing some _real_ work. Not everyone can go through life shaking our tatas at people."

"Enough." Uldren said firmly, cutting off Cinder's response. "I don't have time for your snivelling arguments. Was the virus successful, Roman?"

"Did its job and more." He answered. "We're receiving the _motherload_ of all data as we speak. Everything you could ever want to know about aliens, but was too ignorant to know you wanted to ask."

"Good. We're finally getting some results."

"So, now that we've got our info, what exactly are we looking for? I doubt whatever aliens set up shop here left a big friendly sign saying 'portal network, right here'."

"The Vex didn't _intentionally_ leave a sign for any wandering fool. But their tech is easy to identify once you know what to look for." He tapped at his armband, and the screen behind him lit up with a single image. A large room filled with bronze discs, arrayed in a circle around a depression in the ground. Roman could see White Fang members studying the structures. "This is Vex Portal Nexus. Built to allow them to easily ferry from one network to another within moments. Or likely in this case, bring an army through within moments. Our research leads us to believe that this is what happened to the people who used to live here. They dug too deep, and woke up something they couldn't understand."

Roman looked around the room, nodding. "And yet I can't help but notice that we're not surrounded by killer aliens." He remarked.

"Somehow, Atlas or someone else managed to defeat them. Worse, they stole the power conduit for the entire system. Without it, they're simply abstract art."

"And one of those portals has got to be a way for you to get home. Thank you. Thought we'd _never_ get round to talking about what we're looking for. Now, any ideas what this conduit thing looks like? Or should I just look for any bronze item Atlas is hiding in some warehouse?"

"Given the shape and length of the indent, we're likely looking for a bronze cylinder. About two metres in length." Cinder said, likely annoyed for being left out of the conversation. Roman rolled his eyes, but flicked through the list of inventory anyway.

"Well, I'm pleased to say that I've got good news on that front." He said after several seconds of searching. "Also some bad news."

"Typical." Cinder muttered. "You just can't do anything right, can you?"

"_Enough_." Uldren growled. "Let's hear it Roman."

Roman glowered at Cinder before answering. "So, good news is that the conduit is being transported to Vale today, in hopes that the Guardians can help Atlas figure out how to tap into its incredible power. It's being delivered by airship to the edge of Vale, where it will be loaded onto a truck to be driven to a different landing platform, before being loaded onto _another_ airship and then flown up to Beacon. The catch is, it's going to be guarded at all times. The first airship will have three fighter airships watching over it and blowing up _anything_ that gets too close. Then the truck will have an armed escort from the police. And then the airships will rejoin the second transport airship as it heads to Beacon."

"Seems rather strange." Cinder noted. "Why not just have the airships fly straight to Beacon in the first place?"

"They estimate that the conduit can generate enough power to supply all of Remnant for the next… oh, few millennia or so. Not exactly something you want hanging hundreds of metres over a populated city for an extended period of time."

"Then that is when we will strike." Uldren said. "Once they've gotten the conduit into the truck and the airships are heading to the next stop, we will attack and steal the conduit for ourselves."

"Great plan boss. But just out of curiosity, how are you going to deal with the Guardians? I seriously doubt they're going to stay at Beacon while we rob Atlas blind." He snapped his fingers. "Here's an idea. Why don't we let the Guardians get the conduit, lure them out here, and let _them_ power this place up? Huh? How does that sound?"

"And just how do you plan on us getting to the portal without getting shot to pieces or arrested on the spot?" Cinder asked. "Do we simply ask them to let us go free with our stolen loot?"

"No." Uldren said. "I will not have my hard-earned Dust taken from me by the Traveller's pets. It _will_ be used to aid the Reef, no matter the cost. Roman, gather some of the White Fang. We'll need more bodies for this mission."

"And if the Guardians _do_ show up?"

"Stall them. Even with their immortality, they can't chase us forever. Eventually, we can lose them."

"And how long do you think it'll take them to track us down again?"

"Long enough for us to be ready for them."

* * *

"Move it slowly, you idiot!" Captain Hardgrove bellowed at the soldier currently operating the crane. "You're moving a several thousand year old alien artefact. I'll have your hide if that thing gets damaged in any way!"

"Yes sir. Sorry sir." The man apologised, moving the controls slower than before. The crane arm, already considered agonisingly slow, moved at a glacial pace. It would take several minutes to have it loaded and secured inside the truck.

Still, a small price to pay for having it arrive safely. General Ironwood's orders had been _very_ clear on that. While he was waiting for the conduit to be loaded, he looked over the security measures in place. Six police cars would escort them to the Beacon landing platform, with two dropships flying overhead. They would travel down the main road in full view, avoiding areas where they could be trapped or ambushed. Once at the landing platform, they would load the cargo onto another ship, where they will be escorted by their airship guards the rest of the way.

He looked up angrily as he heard a loud clunk, but it was just the clamps locking around the conduit. The soldiers were jumping into the truck, securing themselves down around it. Good. They're almost ready. He hopped into the passenger seat with the driver, a young woman with red hair that frankly seemed too young to be in the military. He shrugged. Ah well, perhaps she's just on the small side. She was certainly an expert driver though, pulling out of the dock smoothly. The police cars surrounded them, lights flashing as they expertly cleared a path for them in the traffic. At this rate, they should make it to Beacon within…

He was startled as a rocket flew from a rooftop, striking one of the dropships out of the sky. People started panicking as it fell to the streets, trailing smoke. Another rocket intercepted the second dropship, causing it to lose its robot cargo as it fell. He cursed. Someone intercepted their orders most likely.

"Get us out of here. Full throttle." He ordered the driver. "Men, prepare for an assault. We're under attack." The young woman nodded, flooring the accelerator. The police cars were temporarily left behind, but they managed to catch up.

Just in time for two trucks to skid out of the nearby alleys and slam into some of them.

"Dammit." He cursed. "They know our route. Take a detour, but be careful with our package." A series of thumps sounded above him. "I'm going to deal with our stowaways." He climbed out the window, pulling his sword free as he climbed. Above, the attackers were currently under fire from his men, shooting through the roof of the truck. He pointed his sword at them, and fired the rifle attached to it. "Die, you White Fang ruffians." He shouted as he shot one off the roof. He grabbed his arm as he fell, obviously wounded. The rest of the White Fang charged for him, blades and claws ready for action. He fired his rifle again, knocking another soldier down before clashing his blade against one of them. He deflected the blow and slashed him across the chest, shooting another one that was creeping up on him. He then smashed his forehead against the man before him, pushing him into his friends before shooting them again. Lowly scum. It will be trivial to deal with these vagabonds and get to safety. All he had to do was…

His sword strike was deflected by an arrow striking it. He looked up to see a raven-haired woman standing on one of the trucks, a bow in her hands. On the other truck was Roman Torchwick, jumping on board with more members of the White Fang. He should've known that a thief like Torchwick would be involved.

"I will have you and your allies in chains for this, Torchwick. Have at thee!" He charged forward, firing his rifle twice more. Torchwick blocked the shots with his cane, chuckling as he moved to intercept. Their weapons clashed against each other, and they traded blow after blow. He saw the truck with the girl move behind them, more Faunus crawling towards the back. It had to swerve though, as his men opened fire. Good boys. Fend them off until they…

He stumbled as the truck suddenly swerved, the momentum causing him to nearly slide off until he stabbed his sword into the truck. What the devil is that woman thinking? Was she _trying_ to crash them? He started pulling himself back up, only to have Roman stand on his hand.

The crook smirked down at him. "Too slow, captain! Thanks for the brand new gift. Been a real pleasure… Not." He pointed his cane right at him, and he and the White Fang started firing at him. With his aura depleting rapidly, he could do nothing to stop himself from falling.

Roman gave a jaunty little wave to the captain as he rolled down the road before heading towards the front of the truck. Behind him, the White Fang were dealing with the guards inside. "Remember guys, I'll personally skin anyone who damages the conduit in any way!" He shouted back at them before crouching over the window. The driver inside glanced at him, before smirking as her hair turned pink and brown. "Nice going Neo. Now let's turn this thing around. The sooner we get back to base, the less likely we'll have to deal with the Guardians."

Neo nodded, but then frowned and tilted the wing mirror. In it were three people riding hovering bikes. And closing rapidly. Neo glanced at him, eyebrow raised.

He sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I know. Me and my big mouth. Just keep driving." He slapped the roof of the cap, getting back up and walking to the back of the truck. The White Fang stood on the rooftop and inside the truck, guns ready. "Well, what are you waiting for? A doggy treat? Start shooting them." He fired off a shot from his cane, and the Faunus _finally_ joined in. Bullets and explosions tore up the street behind them, forcing the Guardians to dodge and weave. Several bullets and explosions managed to weather the lead rider, the woman with the cape, causing her bike to start burning with flames. She simply climbed onto the front and jumped off, landing on a teammate's bike instead. Her teammate thrust a hand forward, a purple barrier forming ahead of them and causing their attacks to bounce off. She dropped it again, as her friend fired off rounds. Several members of the White Fang were blown away, a gaping hole where they had been shot. The Guardians moved forward and used their bikes to spring up onto the truck.

Great. Now he had to find a way to get rid of badass warriors who just won't stay dead.

* * *

Ti'ana looked at the picture on the scroll in shock. "You. Have _got_. To be fucking with me." She said. Bianca and Katie looked just as surprised. "This… This has got to be some kind of joke."

Ironwood frowned as he sat opposite them. "This isn't a joke Guardian. What I am showing is indeed real, and in our custody right now."

"You somehow got a Vex conduit? Do you have any idea…? I-I haven't even _seen_ one before now." She turned to her teammates. "Katie, is this thing even real?"

"It _looks_ authentic. Exactly the same to the one currently in the Warlock's vault. For all intents and purposes, I say we've got a genuine Conduit here." Katie said, studying the picture in close detail.

"Why exactly is this so strange to you? Surely you've dealt with these things before? Or are you suggesting that we 'lower lifeforms' managed to do what you haven't?"

"We have _never_ called you a lower lifeform. And this is so surprising because we've only ever managed to actually find _one_ of them this whole time." Ti'ana explained. "At least, I think we've only found one."

"We've _located_ the general area others might be, but we're talking about power cores designed to power planet-wide systems. The Warlocks feels that it would be easier and safer to simply recover all remaining data on the Vex from the Ishtar Collective rather than fight our way to their most important devices."

"Why show us this?" Bianca asked.

"We've had this conduit for years now, but so far we haven't been able to unlock its power. Nothing we build has managed to hook up to it, leaving us to wonder if maybe the conduit itself has been sealed. I'm hoping that your Ghosts could perhaps unlock it for us."

"And the fact that it's our ticket out of your hair is just a coincidence." Bianca snarked. Ironwood blinked, looking incredibly surprised. "Wow. Guess it _is_ a coincidence. Talk about luck."

"This could actually send you back home?" Bianca opened her mouth, stopped, and turned to Katie.

"Very likely. The Vex don't see time and space the same way you and I do. To them, it's about as non-linear as you can get. We're not even completely sure where they come from. If we could get this hooked back up to a portal network, then we could hopefully link a portal back to our part of the universe."

"Hopefully?"

"Well it's not like we're intentionally jumping from galaxy to galaxy when we use a portal." Ironwood frowned, obviously mulling things over. Clearly, he wanted access to the power within. A vex power source could probably help a species jump decades or even centuries ahead, maybe even a millennia. But at the same time, he probably wanted them gone as quickly as possible. But if they left, then he'd lose access to any tricks they had that could help him.

"Help me figure out why we can't use this conduit, and I promise you that I will devote my resources to helping you get back home." He finally said. "I will provide scientists, equipment, anything you need to get this portal of yours working." He was about to say more, but his scroll started flashing.

"Getting reports of a firefight in Vale." Dinklebot said. "A truck is under attack from White Fang."

"The conduit." Ironwood cursed. "It's the only thing I can think of worth stealing right now."

"Brilliant. Guess Uldren Sov's making his move now that it's out in the open." Ti'ana muttered. "Girls, grab your ships and get close to there. But we're going the rest of the way by sparrow. I seriously don't want to have my ship shot down. Not when we're so close."

"Who the hell is Uldren Sov?" Ironwood asked them, but they ignored him and ran for the outside area. With any luck, they can tell him after they've saved the conduit.

Right now though, they needed to go and fight whatever Sov decided was enough to steal a Vex power source.

* * *

Ti'ana started firing her scout rifle at Torchwick, who decided to roll away from than block the strikes. When he came back up, he fired a Dust round before catching it with the crook of his cane and sweeping it towards them. They jumped over the attack just in time for Torchwick to slam his cane into Ti'ana's helmet. She stumbled back a bit, but her suit was already moving into action. She blocked his next strike with her rifle, before discharging a fusion blast into his face. He stumbled back, giving her room to pull out her shotgun. He batted it aside, causing the shot to go wide, and she unfurled it instead. Plating slid away to reveal a handle inside, turning it into a mace.

Behind her, Katie and Bianca were tearing through the White Fang. Bianca had twin daggers, slicing and stabbing through them as she blinked in and out of space. Her hand cannon had been modified with a blade, allowing her to blow their heads off as she moved. Katie was fighting with her fusion-rifle-turned-halberd, spinning it round herself and letting the charged blade cleave through them.

"Incoming." Dinklebot warned her, and she jumped away as arrows hit the truck and exploded. The woman had jumped from the other truck onto theirs, her bow separating into twin blades. Katie pointed her halberd at her, firing single blasts of fusion charges at her. The woman dodged around them, slashing them out of the air or blocking them with her hand somehow. Then she got close enough that the halberd's length was useless, and Katie had to jump away again. She folded the halberd up into a rifle again, and fired it near point-blank. As she did so, she swapped out for her Bad Juju, the gun folding out into a skull-adorned katana. The edge glowed with sickly green energy.

In the middle of all this, Bianca flipped herself over the edge, flinging herself inside the truck and crashing into two Faunus guarding it. They all landed in a heap, and she fired two shots into their chests.

"You're going to regret that, human." The final guard growled at her. He was dressed in a black suit and longcoat, wearing a white mask that hid his features. In one hand was a sword, still in its scabbard. The only feature that marked him as a Faunus was two horns sticking out of his hair.

Bianca smirked, even though he couldn't see her face. "If I got Glimmer everytime I heard something like _that_…" She quickly fired off two more shots, only for the Faunus to pull out his sword slightly and slice the bullets in two. The blade glowed slightly, and then he charged towards her, pulling his blade free as he moved. She ducked to the side and rolled, bringing herself behind him. She lashed out with her dagger, only for him to block it and send it flying. As he swung again, she blinked back and tossed a second knife at him, before Tyrion created a short sword in her hand. She fired her final shot before he charged in again, his blade glowing again. Without time to reload, she went in with both blades, clashing against each other. Her suit's systems were able to keep up with his attacks, both fighting for dominance.

And then he moved back and sheathed his blade, smirking. She moved forward to press the advantage, and then he fired… something. His blade moved impossibly fast. And she felt like her left arm was on fire.

"Warning! Critical damage!" Tyrion alerted her, even as she backed away. Her arm was lying on the floor near them, bleeding away before vanishing into hard light. She threw her blade at the Faunus, who managed to swat it aside as he closed in for the kill.

But throwing the blade gave her a free hand for Tyrion to set The Devil back in, fully loaded. She fired off the entire clip, the first two striking him before he realised what had happened. He blocked the rest, but the sheer force and surprise caused him to stumble back. Giving her enough time to restore her shield and her arm.

As a Guardian, she learnt to fight through the pain.

When The Devil ran out of bullets, she switched to a Fusion Rifle she carried, folding it out into a crossbow. He moved forward again, his sheath converted into a shotgun as he moved. She rolled away from the shot, coming back to her feet with her rifle ready.

Let's see this guy try to block the Pocket Infinity.

The sheer number of charges fired so closely together was too much for him, even _if_ he could've blocked the energy based projectiles. It threw him upwards and away, slamming him into the walls and floor and leaving him grabbing for the open back. She pulled out The Devil again, reloading it for the final shots.

But he managed to pull himself closer, and pointed his sheathed sword at her. There was a bang, and she moved to dodge. The sword's hilt smashed into her shoulder, sending her stumbling. That was enough for him to climb back up and move towards his blade.

She ducked down, but he anticipated it and simply aimed lower once he had his sword. Her world flashed red and tilted sideways, her body deconstructing already. Tyrion was booted out of the truck by the Faunus, who was clutching his side in pain.

"Tyrion, can you get me back on that truck?" she asked him.

"Unfortunately, no. But once I've resurrected you, you should be able to summon your Sparrow and chase after it." She felt her body being reconstructed even as he spoke.

"Got it. Let's just hope they don't have some trick to distract us."

* * *

Ti'ana clashed her mace against Torchwick's cane, the heavier head knocking it away. Torchwick simply backed up and moved to fire it, only for her to fire her shotgun at him first. The blast sent him stumbling, allowing her to move in again. But he fired his cane directly into her face, sending _her_ stumbling away. Her suit registered him approaching, and moved her limbs to intercept. But he was fast enough to outpace the suit, allowing him to get some blows in. She opted to simply punch him, her fist cracking with Arc energy. He spasmed away again, the Arc energy flowing over his Aura. She moved to press the advantage, pulling out her Scout Rifle and folding her mace up. Their weapons clashed, before she fired her shotgun right at him. But somehow, he managed to block the shell. They fought back and forth, fighting for dominance as he continuously blocked her attacks.

"Light, Advice. Remember what we talked about?" She said into her comms.

"It sounds risky, but it looks like we don't have much choice." Light replied.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained." Advice confirmed.

"Then do it." She closed in on Torchwick again, trying to clonk him over the head with a materialising shape. He knocked it from her hands, ramming his cane against her chest as he did so.

"You Guardians aren't actually all that tough." He sneered. "You just keep charging in, even when it doesn't work. I don't see what the big…" He jerked as a storm of bullets slammed into his backside, distracting him and allowing Ti'ana to get in a few blows. He turned to see a red machine gun attached to a stand, clamped down onto the truck. It fired again, forcing him to block the bullets. This left him open again, and Ti'ana slammed a fist into his back, sending him flying forward. Torchwick rolled for a bit, coming to a stop in time to see Ti'ana jumping towards him, fist raised. He rolled to the side, and her fist punched through the truck roof.

Behind them, Katie was currently busy with the Raven-haired woman, and finding out that an onboard program was not as good as real skill. She was barely keeping up, always on the back foot. The only thing helping her was that Bad Juju's power - normally expressed as a full clip whenever she killed anything – had been altered. Now it was like it was… eating away at her weapon.

_If you believe your weapon wants to murder all existence, then so it shall._ That was what Toland's Journal said about the Bad Juju.

Well, time to see if that was true.

She moved back again, but this time she swapped out for her Fusion Rifle instead. The woman moved to deflect her aim, but before she could grab her Katie blinked behind her, sword drawn again. It slashed across her back, and spilled blood. The Aura around it glowed a pale green, and seemed to be smoking.

Apparently if you believe that your weapon can slice through Aura, then it can.

Katie switched her katana back into Pulse Rifle mode, firing full auto at the woman. Now likely wary of her weapon, the woman ducked and dodged her gunfire, trying to move in closer. From one pocket, she pulled out a tube of some kind, cracking it open and throwing the material inside at Katie. As it flew through the air, it bunched together into several Dust crystals. Katie jumped back to try and avoid it, temporarily forgetting that she was near the back of a truck. She blinked forward before she fell… and landed right next to the woman, who immediately made another crystal explode. Her Aura allowed her to weather the explosion. Katie wasn't so lucky. The power behind it shredded her shields, along with her right arm. She grabbed the edge of the truck with her free hand, her weapon tumbling away. If she could just hold on long enough for Dinklebot to repair her damaged arm, she could…

The woman loomed over her, and fired an arrow into Katie's forehead. And then she felt it explode, sending her corpse falling to the street. Bianca, who had now caught up with them, was knocked off her sparrow by Katie's corpse, sending them both skidding and tumbling down the road.

She _hated_ it when people made her head explode.

Ti'ana looked over at the sound of the explosion, and saw Katie tumbling away, her arm just a sparking stump. Cursing, she slammed her helmet into Torchwick's head, clearing herself some space. She immediately switched back to her Scout Rifle, firing at the woman stepping out of the smoke cloud. They found their mark, knocking her about and causing her to stumble from the impact. But movement from her side distracted her, and she turned in time for Torchwick to slam his cane against her head. Her suit reacted to block the follow-up strike, but when it was blocked he simply turned the cane around and fired it into the truck, letting it bounce off into her chest and sending her stumbling. He grabbed it out of the air and hit her again, and as she went to fight back she was ambushed by the woman. The arrows she fired into her back exploded, doing considerable damage to her. She watched as Advice was blown from his clamp, tumbling down the road behind them. Then Torchwick pointed his cane right at her face, and fired point blank. Her corpse went tumbling off after Advice, and she could only watch as the truck raced away.

Then she heard the sound of Sparrow engines, and a hand grabbed her Ghost.

"No sleeping on the job, Ti'ana. We've _got_ to catch that truck." Katie said, even as she infused her Light into Ti'ana. She resurrected already sitting on the back of her Sparrow, one hand on her rifle.

Ti'ana nodded. "Pull up next to the cab. I'll see if I can take out the driver."

* * *

"Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me!" Roman moaned as he and Cinder looked back. Even though they had just killed the last Guardian barely a few seconds ago, the _three_ of them were already on their tail and closing. "How the hell do you get _rid_ of these guys?"

"Not like that." Cinder replied, grabbing her Scroll. "All units, move to plan B. Squad 4, provide covering fire." Neo took a different turn, heading for more open roads. There was the sound of Bullwings, and a group of three flew overhead. Two of them turned around and flew backwards, firing down on the Guardians as they went. The middle one dropped down some cables on the truck. Roman and Cinder moved to help clamp them onto the frame, the magnetic clamps holding securely. Once all four were ready, the Bullwing started to slowly lift up. It took a few long seconds before the wheels of the truck were lifted off the road. With their cargo secured, the Bullwing turned to the Southeast.

Roman smirked and gave a mocking wave, until the Guardian riding passenger pulled out a rocket launcher. The other two pulled out their weapons and fired wildly, their bullets tearing into the truck's frame as they aimed for the two of them. The rocket smashed into the Bullwing, sending wreckage and truck falling. Luckily for them, they had been passing over the highway when they were shot down. The truck landed heavily, bouncing and swerving from the impact. The section of the truck Roman and Cinder were standing on, already weakened by fighting, crumpled under the impact. The two of them fell inside the truck, nearly falling out onto the road. Two more explosions filled the air, their escorts destroyed. They both looked up in time to see the gunner somehow flying through the air, a hovering bike forming beneath her as she landed. Her companion followed her, leaving just the woman in the cloak still on ground level.

"Shit. Plan C! Plan C now! Neo, step on it!" Roman shouted. The truck jolted forward as Neo pushed it to its limits, the Guardians still catching up. He glanced out in time to see four more Bullwings approaching, flying low. As instructed, they started aiming for the support struts for the highway.

Explosions shook the highway, and the road started cracking. Large chunks of it behind them fell, leaving holes in their wake. The Guardians started weaving round the damage, still closing in. Then the road right behind them fell out completely, leaving the Guardians falling. They both jumped off and then somehow jumped again, their bikes reappearing underneath them. But the road fell beneath them again, and he could feel the truck tilting as it threatened to be caught up in the destruction. But after several tense moments, Neo managed to outpace the damage, leaving the Guardians behind on the lower level. He sighed in relief.

"Squad 6, move to carry us out. It's only going to be a matter of time before they switch to their ships, and I don't want to try and outpace something meant for space." He said wearily. He admired the sheer destruction they had caused, entire sections of the highway now gaping holes. Vehicles were falling into those gaps, piling up underneath. The death toll was probably going to be high.

But as long as he won, he didn't care. Well, not _too_ much.

* * *

As per Uldren Sov's orders, their truck was sent directly through to the centre of their operations. A train was waiting to deliver the truck and cargo to the portal site, and the White Fang were preparing for a fight. Uldren Sov himself was standing in the middle of the clearing, one of his mechanical crows hovering over his shoulder. He didn't seem to be surprised by the state of the truck.

"Here you go, your princeliness. One alien power core, undamaged. Hopefully." Roman said as he hopped off the truck, giving a dramatic bow.

"I _know_ that it's undamaged. Believe me when I say that all of Remnant would know if it had been damaged in any way." Uldren Sov replied, a crane already grabbing the conduit from the truck. "Even the Guardians wouldn't have survived something like that. Now, get all of this to the portal nexus. The Guardians are already landing at our doorstep."

"Already? Son of a bitch." Roman complained. But Uldren ignored his complaint. He was already moving to oversee the cargo transfer. Leaving base defences to Cinder.

"Taurus, get your men ready. They are to stall the Guardians as long as possible so that we can make our escape." She ordered Adam. The Faunus glared at her from behind his mask.

"No." He growled. "I was willing to work with you only because the only other option was death. But everyone can see just how few of my men came back from that heist. Why should we sacrifice ourselves to stop people who have a problem with you and your boss?"

"Because we had a deal. You and your men could be coming with us, but since you want to stay here to 'free the world from human tyranny', _you_ get to stay here and be our rear guard. If you don't like it, then you shouldn't have said yes." She placed a hand against his face, a faint wisp of smoke curling upwards. Adam, to his credit, didn't even cry out. Though she could see the tightening of his muscles. "There's only two places you can go now. With us through the portal… Or back towards the entrance. With the Guardians willing to kill you."

Taurus growled at her. "You bitch." He snarled, spinning around and heading back towards his men. "White Fang, prepare for a fight. We have to hold those Guardians back for as long as possible. I want heavy weapons aimed at that door, and grenades at the ready. You see them fall, don't think it's over. In a few seconds, they'll be right back in the fight." Satisfied that the White Fang were doing their job as meat shields, Cinder moved towards the train, checking in with her team. Mercury and Emerald were checking over a list.

"Weapons." Emerald said, looking at her Scroll.

"Check." Mercury replied, leaning back against some cargo.

"Paladins."

"Check."

"Dust."

"Checky-check."

Emerald rolled her eyes. "One lazy dumbass?"

"Well given that Roman's here… check."

"We don't have time for jokes." Cinder interrupted them, stopping Roman from retorting. "The Guardians are already at our front door. Do we have everything?"

"Yes." Emerald replied.

"Then we're leaving. Now." Emerald nodded, and shouted at the crew. The train started moving, going faster and faster as it picked up speed. The White Fang were left behind, just as a distant explosion sounded.

Roman moved closer to Cinder. "I'm starting to have second thoughts about this 'prize' the Prince is offering." He said to her.

"Tough. You should have thought of that _before_ you accepted." She replied. "You were all too happy to accept becoming a noble when he offered."

"Yeah, but back then he didn't exactly explain that his kingdom is in another goddamn dimension. All he said was that he was a prince from a secluded kingdom, and he would offer us lots of stuff if we agreed to help him."

"And yet not one bit of that was false. Assuming that you do not ruin anything."

"That's beside the point. I agreed because I figured that if it didn't work out, I could still cart a crapton of Lien with me back to Vale, or Atlas, or Vacuo. But now I've found out that there are only two places I can go in this other dimension. The Reef, where this guy is a prince; and the Last City, which is filled with people who'll probably end up killing me if I commit crimes. Everywhere else is completely overrun by monsters and aliens."

"Well it's too late to back out now." Cinder said waspishly. "People died when we took out the highway. Enough that you won't escape with a minor sentence this time. They will hunt you down like a dog. So, time to make a choice. Stay with us, or die." And then she walked off, leaving Roman to seethe.

"I am going to kill her." He said quietly, knowing that Neo was near enough to hear him. "Maybe not anytime soon, but one day, when she's weak and vulnerable, and I can get away with it, she's going to die. But right now, we need to start planning for in case she stabs us in the back."

Neo tapped away at her Scroll, showing the message to Roman. "Are we going to try and sell her out? Maybe trip her up so the Guardians get her?"

"Maybe. But I was thinking that you might need to be prepared to go under cover. We already know that your Semblance fools tech. As long as you're careful with it, no one is going to notice a thing."

Neo frowned, tapping away at her Scroll again. "But what about you?"

"I'll be fine. I've talked my way out of more situations than you know. But I'd feel a hell of a lot better knowing that you're not in immediate danger." He ruffled her hair. "I'm not planning on going to my doom or anything. I just wouldn't trust Cinder or the prince as far as I could throw them."

Neo nodded, and they both took to waiting near the cargo. It took several more moments before they finally reached a shimmering field, the tunnel lighting up as they passed through. They found themselves in a different tunnel, slowing down as the end of the tunnel lit up. They pulled to a stop in a large chamber filled with bronze structures resembling discs and wire frames standing on a series of steps like an arena. An excavation team was standing in the centre of the room, around a deep indent in the ground. They raced to the train and moved for the conduit, already loaded onto a trolley. They immediately got it into place, the conduit shattering the trolley and sinking into the indent. The walls lit up, and metal started flying up into the air above them.

Uldren Sov smirked as he took it in. "Finally. Home is now within my grasp." He said to himself.

But none of them noticed that some of the furtherer portals were lighting up as well.

* * *

"Ok. As plans go, this is pretty simple. We go in, kick ass, bring Roman and his friends down, capture Uldren Sov, and then head back home." Bianca said over the comms. They were currently racing down the tunnel on their Sparrows. "You see someone that's not us, you kick their asses to the ground."

"Yes sir captain lady sir." Ruby said, hanging onto the back of Ti'ana's Sparrow. Her team had contacted them, practically begging to join in on the hunt. The only reason the three of them had even agreed was that they needed someone to drag Torchwick and his team of criminals back to Vale afterwards, and they were already waiting in the hanger bay. Now they were riding along with them, Yang and Blake riding on Yang's bike, Ruby with Ti'ana, and Weiss with Katie. Hopefully, they'll still have enough time to get the lot of them back to Vale without losing their window.

"We're approaching the end of the tunnel. Initial scans suggest that they're expecting us." Tyrion told her.

"Alright then. Get ready; things are going to get hot." She shouted to the others, the end of the tunnel now in sight. The Guardians boosted ahead, zooming out of the tunnel into a storm of bullets. They immediately skidded their Sparrows sideways, their undersides exposed, before pushing off and landing. The damaged Sparrows kept going, and exploded on impact. With their first ranks in disarray, the five of them charged forward into the melee. Ruby and Weiss stayed on the move, slashing and blasting with Dust respectively. Bianca and Katie pulled out rocket launchers and fired at the watch towers, blowing them and the Faunus inside into the air. Ti'ana was mowing them down with Advice, which switched between minigun and chainsaw modes, while Yang smashed through them with her bike.

All they had to do was fight their way through the White Fang and wait for their Sparrows to respawn, and they could just keep going. They'll deal with the survivors later.

Not far from them, Adam watched as the Schnee heiress attacked his men with her ill-gotten Dust, carving through honest men fighting against her family's tyranny. At last. A Schnee was right in his grasp. Maybe the chairman of the Schnee Dust Company might be more willing to listen to them if they sent one of her fingers back in a box… or even her whole head. All he had to do was get through her teammates, and grab her. Should be easy as long as the Guardians are kept busy. The only ones near her are some blond bimbo and…

Blake.

His Blake. His love, who abandoned him in his time of victory, had chosen to be with a _Schnee_?

"Sir, isn't that… the traitor?" One of his lieutenants asked him. "With the Schnee girl?" They kept watching the two of them. "Should we bring them both in?"

"There won't be enough time." Their tech expert replied. "I'm picking up Atlesian battleships on approach. We've got maybe five minutes before they reach the entrance, and then we're trapped."

Oh how he longed to make her pay; to make them both pay. But the men came first. He wasn't going to risk their lives for revenge. "Tell the men to grab the wounded and head for the trucks. I want everyone able to have left here _before_ Atlas arrives. Whatever happens now, it's that woman's problem." The men moved to action, as he watched the Guardians summon their hovering bikes from thin air and boost down the tunnel, the Schnee heiress not far behind. "One day, my darling. One day I will find you. And I will destroy everything you love for this betrayal. Right before I make you pay personally." He walked away, heading for where the others were regrouping.

One day.

* * *

A large glowing portal in a tunnel flashed with bright light, four shapes exiting it and speeding off into the distance. Team RWBY looked back at the portal in surprise, while the Guardians focused on here and now.

"Any ideas where we ended up, Light?" Ti'ana asked. When dealing with Vex portals, it was always a good idea to find out where you were. Finding out _when_ you were was trickier, but you usually worried about that second.

"Our current location is under the Eastern reaches of Vale, heading towards Beacon. Guess the Network was built directly under the school's current site. As for when, I'd say we're still in current time."

"Why are you two talking like ending up in another time is common?" Weiss asked them. "Everyone knows that you can't travel through time. It's impossible."

"Really? Like the idea that there's life on other planets? Or that you can come back from the dead?" Ti'ana smirked. Weiss flushed in embarrassment. "The Vex figured out how to time travel either eons ago, or millions of years from now. It doesn't really matter. What _does_ matter is that they don't follow time like the rest of us do. I mean, we came across a lab meant to alter the fundamental laws of the universe to make their dominion over everything an undeniable fact of everything."

"Say what you will about the Vex, but they definitely don't lack ambition." Katie added.

"Enough chit-chat. We're approaching the Nexus." Bianca lightly scolded them. "Be prepared for anything."

"Well, in this case anything includes…" They exited the tunnel, arriving in the Nexus itself. "…Vex. Plenty of them, and more incoming." Tyrion said.

And indeed, he was right. Vex Goblin, Hobgoblins, and Harpies were moving around the Nexus, firing upon Uldren Sov and his team. High above them, pieces from the portals were linking together into one massive floating circle, teleporting energy building up inside.

"That… has easily got to be _the_ biggest Vex portal we've ever seen." Ti'ana said. A nearby group of Goblins noticed them, and she pulled out her Scout Rifle and fired at them. "Why would you even need something this big?"

"Can't be for distance, considering we still don't know where they come from." Bianca murmured.

"It's not the size _I'm_ worried about; it's the energy inside of it." Dinklebot said nervously. "A portal that big would require incredible amounts of energy, which would increase the range of effect for the initial pull. At its estimated max levels, this thing would be powerful enough to… to…" He looked up at the roof. "Oh no."

"What? What?" Katie asked.

"The academy. At max level, that portal is going to drag the mountain and everything attached to it back to our galaxy."

The entire mountain… The entire academy… And everyone still in it.

"Can we stop it from happening?" Ruby asked. "Can't we just… lower the effect or something?"

"Get me to a conflux; I'll need to hook into their systems to find out."

Yang looked around. "And just what exactly does this conflux thing even _look_ like?"

"A tree. Square tree made of light." Bianca replied, already running into the fray, her Sparrow disappearing behind her. The others quickly followed suit, moving off in different directions. "Ok, tips for the Vex. Don't bother aiming for their heads; that pisses them off. Go for the glowing lights; those are their weak spots." She saw Yang jumping towards a group of Vex, only to be surprised as they teleported away. "And they teleport. A lot. Don't assume you're out of their range, and watch all flanks. They seem to like appearing behind you."

"We've already figured that out." Weiss snapped back, trying to deal with the group of Vex approaching and firing at her. She dashed forward quickly, managing to skewer a few in the chest area before they teleported away. It wasn't quite the kill she wanted, but it got them off her back. She quickly moved to another group, but they simply teleported before she got there. A screeching sound made her turn around, already firing dust behind her. The group she had been aiming for was hit by the Dust, limbs getting blown off and shattered. White liquid splattered on the ground nearby. Katie passed by them, gun firing rapidly. More Vex fell, her bullets unending. She tossed out a grenade that exploded into several floating orbs, all of which flew towards another group. Their bodies turned into purple light as they faded away.

Team RWBY may have enough skills to wipe out dozens of Grimm, but the Guardians have been fighting these things for ages.

"Found one." A Ghost said over their comms. "And it's just as bad as Dinklebot said. We can't stop it from happening without disrupting the entire process, making this nexus shut down at best. Beacon academy is going with us, and there's nothing we can do to stop it."

"Get me Ozpin ASAP." Ti'ana said. "I'll warn him to get everyone out. How long does he have?"

"Twenty minutes, at the most. If he wants to get everyone out, he'll need to hurry." As Ti'ana called Ozpin, Bianca turned to Team RWBY.

"Ok, forget bringing them in. I want you four heading back out right now. Get away from here, and keep going."

"What? But we want to help." Ruby whined.

"And you can help by _not_ getting dragged from your home." Bianca shot back. She was about to say more, but was distracted as Vex fired on their position. She fired down at them, her bullets shredding through their plating.

But she saw how many gates were still open, and she knew they weren't going to last twenty minutes against these numbers.

"Let them help, Bianca. At least until Ozpin gets everyone out of Beacon." Katie said.

"Fine. But as soon as we're notified, you're all leaving."

"Deal." Ruby said.

* * *

**(Countdown: 19 minutes)**

A loud alarm blared through the school, disrupting everyone's activities. Students were crowding around outside their rooms, wondering what was going on.

"All students, please head to the assembly hall for evacuation. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill." Glynda's voice sounded through the intercom system. She repeated her instructions, and everyone started moving quickly.

"I didn't even know we _had_ evacuation plans." Nora said, skipping down the hall with Team JNPR.

"A better question would be why we're evacuating in the first place." Ren said. "Do yo suppose it's related to the Guardians?"

"Well, they _were_ seen chasing after those criminals earlier." Jaune mentioned. "But why would that lead to _us_ evacuating?"

In the other end of the school, Ozpin and Ironwood were heading towards the assembly hall. And they were arguing. Sort of.

"Of all the places in Vale, Beacon just happens to be built over a portal nexus? And the Guardians think it'll drag the school with them?" Ironwood summed up. "Do you realise how insane that sounds?"

"We're talking about technology made by near-omniscient beings that travel through time. What's to say that they built it there _because_ the school was above it?" Ozpin pointed out. "But that doesn't matter. Even with all our airships, we aren't going to be able to evacuate everyone before the portal fully activates."

"Which is where our recovered spaceship comes in."

"Exactly." By now, they had reached the assembly hall. Most of it was already packed full of students, most looking nervous or confused. "Get the elevator working. I'll inform them of what's happening." Ironwood nodded, hurrying to the far wall and imputing his codes. Ozpin stepped forward, and the crowd went quiet.

"We don't have much time, so I'll be brief. An alien portal was found only a few minutes ago beneath the academy, linking our world to the Guardians' home galaxy. When it is fully charged, it'll drag everything attached to this mountain with it, including the academy and everything in it." People started shouting questions, panic rising. Ozpin held up a hand. "We don't have time for questions right now. We're pressed for time as it is, and our original evacuation plan will take too long. Luckily, we have an alternative." The wall behind him opened up wide, revealing a large room.

Large enough to take a third of the students at once.

"Students. Please move in an orderly fashion. There will be enough time for everyone, as long as we don't have any complications." Glynda instructed. Even despite her orders, people were already pushing and shoving to the front of the group. Glynda sighed before using her Semblance to pull people out of the lift. "I said in an orderly fashion."

* * *

**(Countdown: 15 minutes)**

"Why. Won't. You. Hold. Still?" Yang shouted, charging forward and punching any Vex she got close to. Half of them simply teleported away, reappearing elsewhere and firing down upon her. Two of them were blown away as Torchwick aimed for them, his Dust shots melting through them. His attempt at cheering ended when a larger Vex teleported near him, firing a booming cannon at him.

"Where do these things keep coming from?" Weiss asked in exasperation, peeking over a barricade to fire darts of Dust at the approaching swarm of Vex. "It's like they're never-ending."

"Trust me, it was worse in the Vault of Glass. At least we don't have reality-erasing weapons pointed at us." Ti'ana replied, holding her weapon over the lip and firing blindly. Shattering bodies showed her results. "How many more are coming for us?"

Little Light peeked over. "Oh, you know. About a hundred. Give or take."

She cursed. "Ok, we can't just keep sitting here. They'll swarm us eventually, or get tired of that slow march routine and teleport. Light, remember what we talked about?"

"That depends. Do you remember me saying that it will guarantee your dying afterwards?"

"Since when has _that_ ever stopped me? Just get it ready." She moved out from behind cover, Advice in hand. She started mowing them down, firing until she ran out of her clip. She holstered Advice and slammed her fists together, Arc energy coursing between them. That energy flowed and sparked over her body, until she was emitting Arc like a lightning rod. With a yell, she charged forward and slammed her fists against the ground. A wave of energy rolled away from her, smacking the Vex away and disintegrating them. Her body still lit up, she smashed her fists into the closest Vex, a shockwave erupting through it and striking more. She kept charging, dashing forward and slamming through Vex after Vex, occasionally throwing a ball of Arc at a distant crowd.

"Energy levels depleting rapidly. You've only got a few more seconds." Light warned her.

"Plenty of time." She grunted back, body wracked with pain. She boosted herself high into the air, an avenging angel bent on destruction. Then she used her last reserves to throw herself like a rocket at a target, slamming into another crowd and destroying them. Her energy spent, her body started cracking apart and flaking away, before she fell over dead.

Now came the thirty seconds she needed to wait before she could resurrect.

"Ti'ana!" Ruby exclaimed, having watched her fall. "We have to protect her!" She readied Crescent Rose.

Katie placed a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. It'll take a building destroying blast to do any real damage to a Ghost and the Vex know it. Besides, we're the bigger targets. A dead Guardian can't do anything to them right now." She pulled out her Fusion Rifle and pegged an approaching Goblin. "Just keep killing these things, and she'll get back up eventually." She then moved out from behind cover, pulling out her rocket launcher and blowing up another group. When a Minotaur got close, she had her launcher transform into a hammer, and slammed it against the Minotaur's side.

A second Minotaur started firing at her, but then Blake appeared near it and started slashing. It teleported away, but she simply jumped towards it again. And when it tried to hit her with its claws, she simply dodged the attack and sliced its arm off, before stabbing her blade into its eye and firing her bullets. Flying Harpies floated above her, bombarding her with a barrage of lasers, until Katie floated up and fired a Void Bomb directly at them.

* * *

**(Countdown: 10 minutes)**

Ironwood watched the steady stream of students entering the Ketch, eyes wide as they took in the spaceship hidden directly under their school. He could see some of them whispering to each other, looking at his men suspiciously. No doubt the fact they were keeping this thing so secret was making them suspicious. But it was the only way he could get them all out in time without leaving anyone behind.

He turned to face the Servitor. "Penny, how long before the engines are primed and ready?" He asked her.

"Just running through the last few system reports now." She replied, all business. "If all goes well, we should be able to take off as soon as everyone's on board." Before them, the mountainous wall was grinding open, revealing a gap big enough for the Ketch to fly through.

Understandable, considering that the Fallen had blasted an opening there in the first place.

"I'm still a bit worried about the state of the engines though." She continued saying. "They haven't been used for over three decades. I can't tell if there's anything wrong with them until we actually take off."

"Just make sure we can get out of range of the portal first. We can worry about the engines afterwards. If need be, we can always find somewhere to crash land." Penny nodded, turning back to the status alerts and systems. Ironwood turned back to look out at the hanger bay, watching as more and more students were arriving.

So many students. And so little time.

* * *

**(Countdown: 5 minutes)**

"What is that thing?" Blake asked, watching as a giant floating machine appeared. It seemed to be made of three segments fused together, a lone red eye on top and a barrier floating around half of it. Surrounding it were several Minotaurs and Goblins.

"A Hydra. Not the fastest Vex out there, but they can pour on the pain. Don't bother shooting it when the barrier's in the way; that thing can block pretty much everything. Luckily for us, the barrier's on a different rotational track than the Hydra." Bianca replied, a purple energy bow forming in her hands.

"Different what?"

"The barrier moves on its own, independent to the Hydra. Meaning that if it's in the way, simply get the Hydra to look somewhere else." She moved out of cover, an arrow forming in the bow as she pulled back on the string. She waited for the barrier to move, and then pegged it right in the Hydra's eye. Purple strands erupted outwards, tagging its Vex bodyguards. "Ok, the Vex are now primed to start exploding when one of them dies. Take out the guards first and work upwards."

"Copy that." Ti'ana replied, as they all started firing from range. As the Goblins fell, the purple strands started exploding, causing significant damage to the Minotaurs and the Hydra. By the time they were all spent, most of them had been destroyed. Yang went flying through the air yelling, one fist poised to strike. The Hydra fired on her, but her Aura held out long enough for her to slam her fist into its eye. With that final shot, the Hydra fell, body sparking. Yang jumped backwards just as it was about to explode, taking the Minotaurs with it. A second explosion from the other side showed that Uldren Sov had dealt with a second Hydra. The last standing portal was pulled apart and integrated into the swirling portal above, and the last of the Vex teleported away.

And a giant Minotaur frame dropped down from above, darkness swirling around it.

"And that thing?" Weiss asked nervously, backing away.

"A Vex Mind. One of the toughest units they have." Bianca replied grimly. "Now would be a good time for you guys to leave."

"What?" Ruby exclaimed. "But… but…"

"We can handle this thing. But I bet you that once this thing is dead, the portal will fully activate and drag us back home. We don't want you lot dragged into this. Go." Team RWBY hesitated, but ran back towards the tunnel. Leaving the Guardians and Uldren's team versus the Gate Lord.

"A Vex Mind dragged us into this mess; and now another's going to send us back." Katie said, readying Bad Juju.

"Guardians; attack!" Ti'ana shouted, throwing her grenade and firing Advice.

The Gate Lord stepped forward to engage them, cannon flaring as it fired.

* * *

**(Countdown: 2 minutes)**

"That's everyone. Get us out of here." Glynda shouted as she stepped into the Ketch itself. The engines immediately activated, flaring as they thrusted the ship forward. Slowly but surely, the hanger doors passed either side of the Ketch as it rocketed out of its hidden bay, bringing them up from beneath a deep chasm. Rocks that had fallen over the initial entrance were batted away as the Ketch broke through, lifting higher and higher. By now, they had passed the chasm itself, now visible to anyone nearby. In a few short minutes, all of Vale would be able to see them, flying overhead.

They were going to make it.

Then Beacon was engulfed by a pillar of white light, radiating outwards like a bubble to consume the entire mountain area. And a great pull tugged at anything within range. The Ketch stopped moving forward, and started tilting backwards.

"Penny! All power to the engines! We have to escape this!" Ironwood shouted, holding onto the bridge.

"I can't. We're already at maximum power. The engines can't process anymore." Penny said anxiously. Red warning lights started flashing on the Servitor, and it started droning on and on. "Emergency procedures are activating. They're lowering power output to avoid exploding."

Ozpin stepped forward. "Meaning that we won't escape the portal's pull." He understood.

Ironwood sighed, as the world around them grew lighter and lighter. "Damn it all. Damn it all to hell."

And then the Ketch vanished, and the white light faded away.

Of Beacon and everyone on it, there was only a flat surface.

* * *

**It's times like these that I wish I had the **_**slightest**_** amount of talent in animation. The things in your head usually seem so much better and dynamic than what goes down on paper. And it would've been cool to actually **_**see**_** the fight and the dance.**

**I wanted to originally end this on having one of the Ghosts say that they're back on Mars, but then I saw that this was easily 13,000 words long, and I felt that was long enough. Actually, I was originally going to have the truck scene and the portal be the next chapter, but then I saw how short it would be, wrote the truck fight, and then figured why not just get to the portal already. So if this feels a bit disjointed or rushed, now you know why.**

**When I first started this fic, I mainly hooked onto the fact that both Destiny and RWBY are worlds where there are badasses with guns fighting against a never-ending tide of dark-based monsters determined to destroy them, and fight with light-based powers and stuff. But then I started wondering who would go where. Would this be a story where Guardians go to Remnant? Or a story where Team RWBY end up in The Last City. After thinking it over, I decided why not both?**

**You're welcome.**

**And after seeing how an adult fully-trained Huntsman fights in Volume 3, I decided to change how I feel Guardians and Huntsmen compare. Now I feel that while Huntsmen are better in terms of speed, stamina, and their Semblances, Guardians make up for it with their versatility and immortality. Yes, you can kill a Guardian much easier than a Huntsman. But as repeatedly pointed out, it's keeping them down that's the problem. And since their weapons are digistructed and stuff, why can't they be modified into different weapon modes on the fly? Even if some people don't like that, you've still got people who can near instantly switch between… (let's see. Four primary weapons types. Four secondary's. Three heavies. Not including the nine + nine + nine slots you have access to…) eleven different weapons, plus their alt modes. Now **_**that's**_** versatility.**

**Anywho, I'm going to relax now that I've finally gotten this done. Hope you guys enjoy this. Next chapter's going to be all about getting settled into The Last City.**

**Edit: One last thing I wanted to mention. A lot of people (including myself) believe that Adam has a weapon or Semblance that lets him ignore armour. According to Word of God though, his Semblance lets him absorb attacks or damage and _overwhelm_ Aura and defences. Just wanted to point that out.**

**Edit: Forgot to ask something. We all know how Weiss and Ruby ended up on a team. How Weiss had to choose between 'the klutz' and 'the casanova'. But is there a fanfic where Weiss chose Jaune over Ruby? And if there isn't, can someone write one for me?**

**It'll be interesting to see what's changed.**


	11. Huntsman? Eyes up Huntsman

**Hey there everyone. I hope you've all heard about the April 2016 update for Destiny, because it looks awesome. Best thing I like about it though is that infusion is now 1:1. Meaning that if you have a 220 chest armour and you infuse a 310 chest armour into it, it's going up to 310. Not some halfway point that requires multiple infusions, but one single infusion. I've got so many blues floating around because they're a higher Light level, but too high for a single infusion. Now it'll be so much easier. And if you've got an Exotic at high levels (maybe a sword) you can then infuse them into other weapons without any problems. Hope you've got plenty of Exotic Shards.**

**Second thing I'm liking is that all packages have a guaranteed item and up to two possible items. And you can actually see what they might be. Really useful if you're trying to find an elusive item. Of course, it doesn't increase your chance of actually getting it, but at least you know where to look now.**

**Third thing is RWBY related. RWBY Chibi. That announcement trailer looked so cute and adorable. I'm thinking it's going to be a lot of cute funny adventures, a few hijinks and stuff. And always adorable. And better yet, it's to tide us over until Volume 4 comes out. So once it finishes, we shouldn't have long to wait for more RWBY. Yay.**

**But enough talk. It's time to introduce our Huntsmen into the Destiny Universe.**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Huntsman? Eyes up Huntsman**

Ti'ana groaned softly as she came to, blinking the lights from her vision. Damn, that Mind must've had some kind of self-destruct program or something. Wreaked havoc on her senses when it died. Or maybe that was just the portal activating. They still knew so little about how they worked.

She could hear Bianca cussing to herself and Katie mumbling something, so they were probably alright. Instead, she checked on whether Uldren and his team were still in the area. Annoyingly, it looked like they had already managed to scamper. Only wrecked crates and a totalled Paladin remained.

She sighed in frustration. "Damn slippery bastard. Light, hook up with the ship. See if you can detect them before a Reef ship arrives." He'll probably call for pick-up as soon as possible. They would have only minutes at most before he could get away.

"Already done, Ti'ana. But we've got bigger problems than Uldren." Light replied solemnly. "The ship sensors picked up a Ketch signature not far from the academy. It matches the vessel under Ironwood's control."

"Oh. Oh shit. Oh Traveller-damned shit." She cursed.

They didn't make it in time. Despite their warning, the school was still dragged through with them.

This was a freaking disaster. And it's partly their fault, no matter what anyone said.

"There's more, I'm afraid. I'm still picking up an active signal from four nearby Scrolls, down the tunnel we came in through. I'd hate to say it, but all signs suggest that Team RWBY didn't manage to make it in time either."

"Please tell us there isn't a Cabal outpost nearby or something." Bianca said, having overheard them talking.

"We're currently based in The Red Seas, at least four hundred miles from the nearest outpost. But there's no way the Cabal could miss a mountain appearing, even all the way out here. The only good news right now is that it'll likely take them a couple of hours to deal with all their paperwork and chains of command and get a crew over here."

"Alright then. New plan. We'll grab our Sparrows, pick up Team RWBY, and hunt down Uldren and his team. While we're doing that, we need to get in contact with Ozpin and Ironwood. Get them to grab everything not nailed down and fry all the systems. We don't want the Cabal learning anything about Remnant or Dust."

"Got it." Katie replied, already hopping onto her Sparrow and zooming away, Bianca and Ti'ana quickly behind her. They drove through the severed tunnel until they came across a separate tunnel made of what looked like glass. Maybe the sand was superheated by the teleporter or something. Driving through to the end of the tunnel allowed them to find Team RWBY. Staring off into the distance as they took in the desert before them.

They all turned as they heard their Sparrows approaching.

* * *

"I don't think we made it in time." Ruby stated obviously, the team quiet as they took in the world before them. When they had started running for the portal before, they had found it closing before them and the world suddenly shaking and blurring. There was a bright flash of light, and they woke up to find what looked like glass a few feet before them. Following the new tunnel took them towards light. But instead of seeing forestry and some rubble, they found themselves looking at sand. A boundless sea of reddish sand, stretching onwards for miles. The edges curled upwards, showing that they were now inside a basin of some kind, a lone dead tree sticking upright on one side.

And two moons, hovering above them.

Weiss coughed a bit from the dryness. "You think? Of course we didn't make it in time, you dunce. The question is, where are we?"

"Uh, the Guardians' home planet? Duh." Yang replied. "No wonder they keep wearing those full-body outfits. It's like being in Vacuo's dirtier brother."

Blake looked around warily, bow twitching. "We should wait for them to find us. We don't know what kind of threats live out here. They could be too much for us." She said. They all started as they heard the drone of three engines, coming from the way they came.

They all turned as one. "I don't think we'll have to wait very long." Weiss said. And indeed, they could already see their hovering bikes on approach. The three Guardians came to a halt before them, hardly looking worse for the wear from their battle. It was hard to tell what they were thinking, seeing as they were wearing their helmets again.

"We don't have much time." Bianca said to them. "Hop on quickly. We'll explain our plan on the way." They all quickly jumped into action, Yang joining Blake on Katie's ride. Bumblebee was a good bike, but it would be terrible in a place like this. The Guardians immediately gunned it, zooming forward at great speed. A misty trail of sand arced up behind them.

"What's the hurry? Do we need to get out of here before some big monster finds us?" Yang asked, her words almost snatched away by the wind.

"Sort of." Katie replied. "Uldren Sov managed to give us the slip. He and his guys must've woken up before us and scampered off with their loot. It'll only take a Reef ship about five to ten minutes to get to Mars, so we have to find him before they do. Or else he'll get away with this."

"There's also the fact that Mars is currently occupied by the Cabal. A militant species that doesn't take kindly to intruders on their territory. We've got some time before they finally respond, but I'd rather we all be long gone before they send platoons in." Bianca added.

"We?" Ruby asked excitedly. "You're taking us with you?"

"You… and them." Bianca replied, pointing upwards. They all turned to see a massive long ship hovering over Beacon. "The entire school is aboard that thing. We can't leave them to fend for themselves. Vanguard orders; never leave a colony unprotected."

"Finally." Ti'ana said. "I thought they'd _never_ respond. Ironwood, this is Ti'ana reporting in. What's your status?" Her Ghost appeared before her, bits spinning wildly.

"We're fine, for the moment. Our engines initiated a forced shutdown from the strain though. We won't be moving for a while." Ironwood said.

"Dammit. In that case, we've got a mission for everyone on board."

"What kind of mission?"

"Securing vital intelligence and equipment. We're currently on enemy territory right now, and the Cabal are smart enough to attempt to gain intel on their enemies. We need you and everyone else to return to Beacon and take everything that can be used against you guys. All pieces of tech, all information, all shards of Dust. If you can't remove it, disable it. Treat this like keeping information out of enemy hands."

"Understood. What about your team? What are you going to do?"

"Hunt down a prince before he escapes. He can't have gotten too far, not out here. There's nowhere to hide besides inside the academy."

"Over there!" Katie shouted, pointing towards the other end of the basin. A large dust cloud was being kicked up, stumbling Paladins moving slowly inside of it. From the bits Ruby could see through her scope, it looked like they had strapped the crates to the back.

"And on the other side of the academy too, those sly bastards." Ti'ana muttered. "Ironwood, if you have any gun operational, get them ready for when their ship arrives. Try to avoid destroying it if you can; I somehow doubt the Queen will be happy if we kill her people trying to bring Uldren to justice."

"No promises." Ironwood replied. And she felt the same way.

No promises she won't beat the ever-loving shit out of Uldren for dragging so many people into their fight.

They immediately gunned their Sparrows, rushing forward at top speed. There was no way those Paladins could ever hope to outrun them, not out on Mars. They must've thought the same thing, because the Paladins turned around and started firing at them. They boosted sideways, dodging their gunfire while still getting closer. Team RWBY pulled out their weapons and fired back, Dust bullets slamming into the paladins. Their passengers – Emerald, Mercury, and Cinder – jumped on top and fought back, using their weapons and Aura to deflect the bullets.

"Katie, hit them with a rocket!" Ti'ana shouted. The Warlock nodded and fired, her missile streaking through the air. The Paladin folded out a fist and punched the errant attack, metal exploding away in pieces.

The other Paladin retorted with a barrage of missiles.

"Scatter!" They swerved away from each other, doing their best to avoid getting blown up. But there were just so many. Each of them ended up being blown into a tumble, rolling down the sandy hill before climbing to their feet. The Guardians and Huntresses had to keep moving as a second salvo landed around them.

"Guardian, our radar's picking up several small ships on approach from above." Ironwood's voice sounded from Little Light. "They'll be here any minute now."

"Dammit." Ti'ana cursed. "Can you fire anything at them? Maybe scare them off a bit longer?"

"We'll try, but just because we can shoot doesn't mean we can hit them." Far above, they could hear the sound of cannons firing, the ships now visible in the sky. Down below, the seven of them were still attacking. Ruby and Blake slashed at one Paladin's ankles, only to be interrupted as Emerald and Mercury jumped down. Taking advantage of their distraction, Ti'ana jumped up on top and started firing her shotgun into the Paladin. Cinder blasted her off with a gout of fire, but was forced back by Yang charging into her.

And proving the ancient law of Murphy right, that was the moment when they came under fire.

At least four ships, made up of three pillars attached to a cockpit in a triangle shape, flew overhead, sweeping the ground with their guns as they passed. Everyone scattered again as clouds of sand flew into the air. Katie shoved Weiss aside, intercepting the deadly hail of bullets instead. Several drones dropped down from the ships, blasting at them with lasers as a form of distraction. One slammed into Yang, knocking her off the Paladin. Mercury moved towards her, and they both disappeared in a cloud of dust and sand. Bianca and Ti'ana attacked the legs, hoping to cripple the Paladins, while the ships flew round for a second pass as they came under fire.

"Guardians." Cinder shouted. They all looked up to find her holding Yang by the hair, an obsidian blade to her neck. She was bruised and bloodied, her Aura depleted. "Stand down. Now. Or else we'll end her life right here and now." She pressed the blade tighter, a thin trail of blood dripping down Yang's neck.

"You bitch." Bianca muttered darkly.

Ti'ana stomped her foot angrily before speaking into her comms. "Ironwood, cease fire immediately. They got a damn hostage."

No response, but the cannons above stopped firing. The ships hovered overhead now, red beams tracing over them. The paladins vanished into thin air, along with the cargo. They quickly flew away, leaving just two left.

"I don't care how long it takes, but I am going to bring you and your team down." Ti'ana hissed at her.

Cinder smirked. "Save your threats for someone who cares. Because you'll be stuck as a lackey, while I am going to be a noble." She shoved Yang towards them, and the ship zapped them aboard. They all started shooting, but the ships flew off before they could do much damage. And then they vanished, almost like jumping away.

Ti'ana screamed in anger and slammed her glowing fists against the ground, blasting sand away. "Dammit! Dammit, dammit, dammit!" She shouted. Ruby quickly checked on Yang, hoping she was still alright. Amazingly, aside from a thin cut on her neck (and lots of nicks and grazes) she was still fine. Fine-ish. She was alive at least. And conscious.

Bianca sighed, pressing a hand to her helmet. "Let's just… We need to get back to the ship. The last thing I want right now is to have to deal with the Cabal."

* * *

Ironwood winced as he felt the ship shudder, a slight scraping sound reaching even up here. Penny gave an apologetic look as she kept the ship hovering near the landing platform at Beacon.

"Sorry sir." She apologised. "This Ketch isn't the most manoeuvrable of ships."

"I know, I know. Just… Try not to take the landing platform out." He said. "I want you to keep an eye on the radar; tell us if any more ships are on approach. Whatever these 'Cabal' are, I don't want to meet them like this."

"Yes sir." Ironwood turned away, heading down further into the ship. As he walked, he passed students carrying bags and crates or equipment. As per the Guardians' orders, they were taking everything they could. Everything not nailed down, everything that _was_ nailed down, even things they wouldn't normally rip out. And they were smashing what was left behind. The ginger girl from Team JNPR seemed oddly enthusiastic about that part. He also noticed that several students were looking at him oddly. No doubt they're still curious as to why this ship had been hiding underneath their school.

He'll have hell to pay for this, and he was willing to take it. But right now, they needed to get to safety. Their continued survival rested on him and his decisions. One wrong choice out here, and he'll have to come back with one less student.

He was determined to come back with as many people as they left with.

By now, he had reached the docking bay, where everything was being stored for their trip. The few Shanks that had survived were helping out, latching down straps and locks. In the middle of it all was Bartholomew Oobleck. Calling out orders and instructions to the students.

"Now remember, Dust crystals are to be stored _securely_ on the left-hand side. And I _mean_ securely. I see any crystals rolling around, there will be severe consequences for all students assigned to storing the Dust. Team FNKI, please move from that area. The Guardians are going to unload cargo on that spot. Mr Wukong, see if you can place some weapon parts in the netting above." Oobleck turned on the spot, and finally spotted Ironwood. "Ah, sir. I see that you've decided to grace us with your presence."

Ironwood nodded. "How are we doing?" He asked.

"Splendidly, all things considered. We've already stripped, dismantled, or destroyed half of everything in Beacon. Give us another thirty minutes, and we'll be good to go." They both looked up as one of the Guardians drove her ship into the hanger bay, a large pile of bits and pieces materialising underneath her ship. Students moved in to move the cargo, while the ship backed out and turned around. "At the very least, we'll have early warning if the Cabal start approaching." He adjusted his glasses. "I wouldn't mind actually seeing one of these things before we took off. I wonder what form or shape they have, and what they use as weapons. Are they similar in shape and size to humans, or are they completely foreign to us in every way? What motivations did they have for targeting _this_ planet out of all the worlds out there?..."

"Oobleck." Ironwood interrupted him. "We need you to focus on what's happening right now."

"I… Yes. You are correct, Ironwood. No doubt the humans here will have all sorts of data about the Cabal. I will keep track of the loading process."

"Good. Notify me as soon as we're done." And he turned away, heading towards the large open doors leading outside and taking in the world before him. The red sand went on for eternity, not a single landmark to offer guidance or to reveal an oasis. But from their high position, he could see the tops of buildings over the distant hills. Some were standing upright, but there were also some listing to the side. As he watched, he could see one rooftop sinking downwards as it toppled. Cabal work, or just natural erosion?

It was hard to believe that anything could've lived here once. Then again, maybe this desert was the aftermath of their war. A lush planet full of life, reduced to dust and echoes.

He stood there for a while, mind whirring away as he wondered what this place used to be and how it ended up like this. All around him, everyone was busy working and storing everything, the cargo holds growing fuller and fuller with every minute. Now most of the students were sitting down on cargo, exhausted or despondent. His musing was interrupted when the intercom system sounded an alert. Everyone looked up in confusion.

"General Ironwood." Bianca's voice sounded through it. "I hope you've grabbed everything you could. Cabal ships are on approach right now. Estimated time of arrival; five minutes." He looked back at the open hanger bay doors, finally spotting something in the sky. It was too far away to properly identify, but it seemed to resemble a flying brick than any design meant for flight. He felt a hand on his shoulder, turned to see Oobleck behind him.

"Almost everyone is on board." He said. "The last few stragglers were sitting on the landing platform instead of inside the ship."

He nodded. "Get them aboard, now. I want us out of here before those ships reach us." He turned and headed back towards the bridge, while Oobleck started shouting at the students still outside. He quickly found his way to the bridge, where Penny was tapping away at controls. "What's the current state of our engines?" He asked her.

"Back online, ready and able." She replied.

"Just in time." Bianca's voice sounded. "They must've engaged their engines full throttle. They're almost on top of us."

"Dammit." He cursed quietly. "Keep them occupied until we're ready." He tapped at another button, one the Penny had identified as comms. "Oobleck, we're running out of time. Give me some good news."

"Still stragglers… Just a few… Almost there…" He replied, voice faint.

"Get those guns firing. We need to hold them off until everyone's on board." He ordered Penny. The Servitor made a droning noise as the turrets turned towards the Cabal, firing upon them. Oobleck came running into the bridge, moving as fast as lightning.

"Everyone has been accounted for." He said quickly. "No one is left behind."

"Alright then. Penny, head towards those coordinates the Guardians gave us."

"Yes sir." She replied, the engines humming louder and louder. They took off and upwards, the Guardians quickly peeling away to join them. The world fell quickly away, the clouds passing by in a flash as the sky grew darker.

In a matter of moments, they had finally done what none had accomplished back home.

They had finally gone into space.

_It's so massive._ He thought to himself. Space just stretched as far as the eye could see, stars filling the void by the millions and billions. A tiny blue dot, barely bigger than a pea, could be seen further away. Another world, another planet. So large, and yet so small. The distance between the worlds must be unsurmountable.

In the past, people once thought that the world was all the existed, because how could there be anything bigger than it? But now he truly understood how little they knew. To the rest of creation, their world was so tiny as to be insignificant.

It was no longer a question of 'were they alone out there'. It's now a question of 'how much of space would see them dead'.

The Guardian ships flew ahead of them, suddenly picking up speed and vanishing into the distance. Meanwhile, space started getting brighter until the viewports was filled with a flash of light… And then they were surrounded by blue sky and clouds. Barely visible in the sky above them was a faint red dot. The world they had just came from.

Such a massive distance, covered within an instant. Remnant seemed almost laughably under-equipped.

The Guardian ships flew down towards them, evidently having only just arrived. "Hold position right here, Ironwood. We'll need to come aboard before we try to get any closer to the Last City." Ti'ana said.

He nodded. "Understood. We'll open the bay doors again for you." The ships flew down towards the side, towards the large doors waiting for them. As they landed, he looked closely out the window, trying to spy the city. Surely something called 'The Last City' would have to be massive in size. Surely they couldn't number in the mere hundreds of thousands. But all he could see was a massive wall of storm clouds, a slight ring of mountains surrounding it…

Ah.

The doors opened from the rear, the Guardians stepping into the bridge. They had removed their helmets now, their armour still looking pristine. He gave them a curt nod once they were standing by him. "Interesting defence system you have." He said. "I would've thought you would have something more… technological than a massive storm though."

Katie shrugged. "It's worked pretty well for the most part. We used to have skies filled with orbital satellites and advanced AI controlling them, but most of them were lost in the Collapse. We make do with what we've got."

He nodded, understanding. "And we're certain those Cabal won't try and follow us?"

"Not worth their time now that we've left. They're more interested in keeping invaders out of their claimed territory. And besides, they'll be more interested in the building that popped up from nowhere."

"We _have_ to get Beacon back."

"And we will. Just give us a minute to prepare. This won't exactly be a three-person job. Right now though, we need to introduce you guys to the Speaker. And for that, we need to borrow the radio." Ti'ana stepped towards a console, and pressed a large button on it. "Tower Control, this is Titan Ti'ana of Fireteam Tramon reporting in. Do you guys copy?" There was a slight sound of static, stretching on far too long. "Tower Control. This is Titan Ti'ana. Can you hear me? Or read me? Or whatever it is you do?" More static. More silence.

Then the static stopped. "Titan Ti'ana, this is Tower Control. You're sounding pretty lively for someone who's supposed to be dead again." A jovial male voice replied. Ti'ana smiled as she heard him.

"What can I say? It's gonna take a lot more than some dark god to keep a good Guardian down."

"I hear that. Now, I take it you're the reason there's a Ketch waiting outside the Stormwall?"

"It's a long story. Long and crazy. But we've got refugees with us from another world."

"Well holy shit. You guys found a colony out there?"

"Kind of. Like I said, it's a long story."

"Alright. I'll have to hear all about it once you've landed. We'll send a fireteam in to make sure everything checks out. Any attempt to move from your current position will be taken as an act of aggression, we'll start firing on you, yadda yadda yadda. You know how it goes."

"Understood. We'll hold position. Ti'ana out." She stepped away from the comms console. "You heard him Penny. No moving at all. We don't want anyone getting the wrong idea."

Ironwood frowned. "Isn't there some way to declare this salvage? Speed things up a bit."

"That _is_ how we declare salvage. We still have someone check it out properly to make sure we didn't pick up any stragglers or passengers. We used to get attacked that way by the Silent Fang."

"I… I see. Will this inspection take long?"

"They should hopefully be here in about fifteen minutes."

* * *

It took only five minutes for a trio of ships to fly out of the storm and head towards them. There was enough space inside the hanger for their ships too, even with the Guardians parked inside.

The first ship was a gunmetal grey, with two thrusters attached to its sides. But for some strange reason, the top of it was covered by some… kind of chitinous scale. Something vaguely Hive-like. The second ship was a more normal vessel, a blue ship marked with the Future War Cult insignia on the side. Two triangular thrusters with large fins were obviously its main mode of propulsion. And the third ship was… well, engine heavy. The body was the same size as the FWC, but its thrusters were easily twice as big. They deposited their Guardians before landing.

It was a standard Fireteam. A Hunter, a Warlock, and a Titan. The Warlock leading the team had the build of a male, but his armour was unlike anything Ti'ana had seen before. A long billowing coat with a frilled high collar, covered in more chitin and scales. His arms were also covered in chitin, with a strange bond with a glowing green flower symbol and circle. His face was hidden behind a helmet with upturned wings circling it.

To his left was the Titan female. She wore mostly New Monarchy gear, with the curved bulky armour of the gauntlets, the large kneepads of the greaves, and the angular chest plating. She also wore an Exotic helmet. It featured a single glass-like visor on the front, cracked in two places and gushing Light. The Helm of Inmost Light. She had been willing to kill to get that awesome looking helm.

And on the right was the Hunter. She wore a helmet with glowing yellow eyes and a large tube attached to the mouth, her shoulders covered by triangular shapes. A single small plate of metal was bolted to one boot, and there was a box hanging from the top of her cape.

The three Guardians came to a halt before them. Ti'ana gave them a quick salute, eager to get this done with. But the other team just stood there, staring at them. What was their deal?

"It's you." The Warlock said quietly, his voice easily recognisable. He pulled off his helmet, revealing a _very_ familiar face. Solas looked at her like he had seen a ghost. "You really _are_ alive."

"Solas." She said in shock. Emotions welled up inside of her as she took in her love. And then he pulled her into a tight hug, their arms wrapped firmly around each other. There was dampness on her cheek. Was he… crying?

"I thought I would never see you again." He whispered to her, voice shaking. She gave him a sad smile and pulled him in tighter, almost lifting him off his feet.

"Hey, come on. You know it'll take more than some dark god to take me down. I just got… a bit lost." He pulled away slightly, just enough that she could see his confused expression. "I'll explain later. Right now, we need to get to the City."

He stared at her before nodding, clearing his throat loudly as he tried to be professional again. "Right. Of course. Haley. Gen'ki." He called out to his teammates, who were busy gossiping behind him. "Fan out and sweep the ship top to bottom. Make sure that nothing's sneaking around in here."

"Acknowledgement: Affirmative." The Titan said in a monotone voice, her Ghost already in hand. They both headed deeper into the ship, leaving Solas with the crew.

"Now, I suppose I'll need to speak to the captain of this ship." Solas said formally.

"Yeah, you kinda do." Ti'ana turned slightly to point behind her. "The guys in charge are Headmaster Ozpin and General Ironwood. They're the closest thing we've got to leaders."

Solas nodded, holding his hand out. "A pleasure to meet you both. You've done very well to keep a colony surviving out there for so long."

"Actually, we're not from this system." Ozpin replied, shaking his hand. "We're not entirely sure where we are compared to your worlds, but suffice to say that we're rather off the beaten track." Solas stopped, and gave Ti'ana a look.

She shrugged. "I told you we got a little lost."

"I think I'll need to hear the whole story once we've landed in the City." He replied dryly. "Sparks, how are the scans coming along?"

"Almost done." His Ghost replied. "Haley and Gen'ki have only one storage bay left to check." He dinged, his eye flashing. "And… done. All passengers are located in this room alone."

He nodded. "Excellent. Contact Tower Control. Tell them that we are cleared for landing."

"You seem very cautious about what enters this Last City of yours. I take it that stowaways are a problem?" Ironwood asked.

"_Were_ a problem. Fallen assassins called The Silent Fang used to sneak aboard cargo ships and launch terror attacks on the City. Security is just a tad concerned about what might be hidden aboard a Ketch." Solas explained. Sparks dinged again, and his frame opened up into a whirling ball of light.

"Warlock Solas, we've received your message." Tower Control spoke through him. "Fallen Ketch, proceed through the Stormwall. Some of our ships will meet you on the other side and direct you to a safe location. Please make sure to follow their flight path."

Ironwood nodded, even though Control couldn't see him. "Understood. I'll go tell our pilot." With a short curt nod, he turned and walked off back towards the bridge.

Solas' fireteam came back at that moment, helmets still on. "Hey boss." The Hunter called out. "Are we gonna stay on board here, or are we heading back to Tower 4?"

"You two go if you want. I'm staying with Ti'ana." He replied, one hand firmly on her shoulder, as though he was worried she'd disappear if he wasn't holding on.

"Query: Do you wish to procreate with the Awoken female?" The Titan asked, still speaking like a robot. The students around them made varying noises, and Ti'ana blushed purple slightly.

Solas turned to face his teammate, his expression thunderous. "Dammit Haley-51, you _will_ stow that kind of talk _immediately_. Show some damn respect."

"Yeah Haley. Show some respect for the lovebirds." The Hunter – obviously Gen'ki – parroted, nudging her teammate. "He just wants to squeeze those curvy cheeks of hers and nuzzle her…"

"Enough!" he said firmly. "You will either stow that kind of talk, or get off this ship."

"Yes sir. Zipping the lip." Gen'ki replied quickly, giving a weird salute.

"Disengaging vocabulator." Haley said.

Ti'ana chuckled, shaking her head ruefully. "Still the same as always, aren't you Gen'ki? I'm surprised that Solas hasn't kicked you off the team yet."

Gen'ki removed her helmet, revealing that she was a younger Awoken, with spiked up bluish hair and a grin on her face. "Solas thinks that handing me off to another fireteam is a 'cruel and unusual punishment worse than what is used by the Hive'…" Her grin dipped a bit before bouncing back. "Personally, I think he likes me too much. After all, he needs someone to make fun of him and get that stick outta his ass when you're not around."

"Oh really? Well you'd better remember that his cute ass belongs to me. No trying to grab it."

Solas shook his head. "I see we've returned to the grand old game of 'make Solas look stupid'."

"You make it too easy sir." Gen'ki replied. "The bigger the ego, the more fun it is to pop it."

Ti'ana nodded in agreement. "Just don't try to insult his dancing. He'll dance you into the ground before you can blink." Their laughter was interrupted by the shaking of the ship, startling the students around them.

They had entered the Stormwall.

A massive storm created by the Traveller and fuelled by Light, the storm was designed to be incredibly destructive to any vessel not carrying enough Light on board.

Ti'ana was almost certain that between the six of them, and the combined Light of the student's Auras, there was enough Light to protect the Ketch. Still she couldn't help feeling a bit nervous with every hit of turbulence. Dying from a crashing ship wasn't her first choice of death.

And the guilt of being one of the only survivors would suck balls.

Uh… Ti'ana?" Ruby said to her nervously. "Is this… normal for… where we're going?"

"Oh yeah, definitely." She said, putting on a brave face. "Flying's always like this when you're going through the Stormwall. Think of it as… a line of defence." Ruby still looked nervous. "Look, everyone who flies in and out of the Last City goes through the exact same thing. They've all survived; so will we."

"Of course you'll survive when you don't stay dead." Cardin Winchester shouted at her. "Must be nice, being able to treat dying like a fricking _inconvenience_."

"Fact: Forty percent of all ships flying in and out of the Last City are piloted by normal human beings." Haley spoke up. "In over two hundred plus years, only zero point three percent of all vessels have been destroyed whilst flying through the Stormwall. Risk of death: minimal."

The shaking stopped, like the calm of a storm. There was the sound of aircraft moving around them, and the gentle feel of the ship turning. "You see?" Ti'ana said. "We made it."

"Picking up a general broadcast." Little Light said. "Figure you might want to hear this." His body opened up.

"...There is no need to panic." The Speaker's soothing voice sounded. "The Fallen Ketch has been captured by a Guardian fireteam, and is carrying refugees from beyond the Wall. They are no threat to you. Carry on with your business, knowing that the Security of the Last City shall protect you…" Good old Speaker, trying to keep everyone from freaking out. Having an enemy ship flying overhead _would_ be pretty scary. It was alright for them, because Guardians don't usually get scared. But for the normal civilians… Well, this ship was a reminder of why they're stuck behind a massive wall instead of spreading out there. She turned around to see the students watching them nervously.

"Light. Has the ship stopped moving?" She asked.

"It has. We're just waiting for ships to arrive and move everyone to Tower 1." He replied.

"Great. I know how to try and cheer everyone up." She headed off towards the doors, towards the control panel operating them from this side. Light immediately got to work, while she turned back to face everyone. "Ok. I know everyone's a bit scared, a bit shocked about being on another world and how… unusual things are. And that whole 'follow our orders or we'll have to blow you up' hasn't painted the best picture of us. So, I felt that maybe it was time to let a little sunshine into this dreary room." Light operated the door, opening it up all dramatic and stuff. People blinked at the sudden brightness, before some of them started looking out in awe.

They took in the massive size of the City, the layers and layers of buildings and districts. The constant flow of ships flying from one area to the other, almost insects compared to their surroundings. But most of all, they drank in the sight of the Traveller, floating overhead like a guardian angel.

"Huntsmen and Huntresses. I give you… The Last City. In all its glory."

* * *

_So, this is their god._ Ironwood thought to himself as he leaned on the balcony, taking in the Traveller. An all-powerful being, going from world to world and uplifting the dominant species for some unexplainable motive. The being that gave Remnant Dust, gave them Aura and Semblances. It made him wonder; what were they like before it arrived? Were they little more than sheep, falling prey to a cold harsh world? Or was Remnant so much like any other world, until the Traveller and the Darkness decided to play God with them, to use them as they saw fit? How much of their history was lost forever because those two had a tantrum over their world?

And what would have happened if it had decided to stand and fight over Remnant instead of running and hoping the Darkness followed?

"I can see why the people worship It." Ozpin said. Ironwood turned to see him pouring over a screen, data streaming down it. "Powerful enough to alter entire worlds and make them inhabitable, helped mankind create technology centuries ahead of their time. And it nearly gave Its life to protect them from the Darkness. In times of darkness and danger, such things are enough to elevate anyone to godhood."

"Perhaps. But the Darkness only came here because of it." Ironwood retorted. "What might this world have become if it had stayed away?"

"We cannot change what has happened. Only accept that what is done is done." They both turned to see a group approaching them, led by a man dressed in a white robe and simple mask. Behind him were three others, arrayed around a table. On the right hand side was a woman in a long coat, brown-skinned and her hair closely cropped. On the left was a machine, an Exo, with blue plating and a large horn jutting from under his hood. And on the other side of the table was an Awoken. A bald man dressed in heavy armour, with a large plate of red steel attached to one shoulder. "I am the Speaker, the voice of the Traveller while it slumbers. Behind me are the Vanguards, the leaders of the Guardians. Commander Zavala," The Awoken gave them a salute, "Hunter Cayde-6," The Exo gave them a quick nod, "And Warlock Ikora Rey." The lady gave a short bow.

"A pleasure to meet you." Ozpin said courteously. Ironwood and Glynda said the same.

"Fireteam Tramon has told us of their adventures in your world." Zavala spoke up. "The fact that Hive and Vex had been to your world before, and are still there in secret, is worrying. Their presence will not be good for your world."

"But that's not the most important issue right now." Ikora interrupted. "Right now, we want you to know that we are willing to offer you and your students lodging while we try to find a way to get you back to Remnant. And we also offer our aid in any matters you require help in."

"Thank you. In that case, we require your help in bringing the criminals responsible for this to justice. When will this 'Reef' deport them into our custody?" Ironwood asked.

There was an awkward moment, as the Speaker and the Vanguards looked at each other. "Never, I'm afraid." The Speaker answered.

"What?"

"One of the criminals you want brought to justice is Prince Uldren Sov, brother to Queen Mara Sov." Zavala answered. "Both have ruled the Reef for at least a century, and have entrenched themselves deeply into their kingdom. The royalty felt themselves above the law back when I was with them; I doubt anything's changed since them."

"Then we must bring them in by force. How many soldiers can you…?"

"We can't." The Speaker interrupted him.

Ironwood seethed. "Didn't you just offer The City's aid in anything we need help with only a minute ago? Does this not count as something we would need aid doing?"

"We understand your anger." Ikora said, trying to soothe him. "But our situation is a bit precarious right now. Our Guardians have just dealt with the Hive god Crota, a lengthy battle that resulted in the death of a Guardian and the resurgence of the Hive. They are too busy protecting our worlds from the Hive, and we have an agreement with the Reef to limit any infighting."

"What Ikora's trying to say is that we're kinda busy fighting one war to start fighting another." Cayde translated, speaking bluntly. "Don't get me wrong, I'd _love_ to wipe the smirk from their faces. But our agreement was that we don't bother them, and they don't bother us. And you can bet that Mara's going to get pretty pissed off if we arrest her brother."

"So what you're saying is that they're out of our reach." Glynda summed up.

"Pretty much, yeah." Cayde answered, shrugging his shoulders. "Oh, and there's something else we want to talk about."

"Cayde. Let people with tact handle this part." Ikora said politely, but firmly. He shrugged again, but remained silent. "This isn't going to be something you're forced into doing. It's just a way that we can help each other."

"Every Guardian we have busy looking for a way to reactivate the Vex portal _and_ ensure it leads back to Remnant is going to be one less Guardian fighting to reclaim our worlds. From what Fireteam Tramon told us, all your students were training to become Huntsmen. In a way, your world's version of Guardians." Zavala said.

"Minus the whole 'nearly impossible to kill' bit." Cayde added.

"It simply seems a waste to let them just wait things out in the City." The Speaker spoke up. "The danger will be great. But there are advantages to helping."

"Such as?" Ozpin asked.

"The more Huntsmen helping us reclaim territory and kill off powerful leaders, the more Guardians we can feel safe devoting to helping find you a way home. And of course, in recognition of their aid, all who help fight back against the Darkness are offered larger rations and more Glimmer for their services. Along with a pick of powerful weapons, armour, and modifications."

"Like I said, we're not forcing you to have your students go into life-threatening situations." Ikora placated. "Even with their resurrection, Guardians have been killed over and over in these fights. We're simply hoping you might consider it."

Ozpin, Glynda, and Ironwood all looked at each other. "Thank you for the offer." Ozpin said. "We'll just need some time to think it over."

"We understand. Take as long as you need."

"Thank you. May we have a ship to take us back to our Ketch?" Ironwood added.

"Certainly. It'll be waiting for you in the Hanger. Just as for Holiday. She'll organise it." The Remnant leaders nodded, leaving the building they were in. Ozpin looked back at the spinning device overhead, showing an image of this world – Earth – and its moon. They stepped out into a busy walkway, with garbage and people around everywhere. One corner was having a lot of people in red – including Guardians – having a big discussion, a large white triangle on the wall behind them. They headed towards the landing platform, a place filled with Guardians. Dancing, sitting, talking and comparing weapons. A few were even bouncing a ball off their heads, until one Guardian jumped too far and fell over the balcony. His friends laughed and pointed until his Ghost showed up, reviving him. And then he joined in too, the lot of them tossing each other over and jumping off for fun. They walked over the mural in the floor – a shield with symbols in each quadrant – and headed down the other side to a walkway over the hanger bay. When they got below, a blond-haired woman with a band of stripes down her arm pointed out their ship for them. It was an easy ride to the Ketch, empty now as the students rested on the Tower. That made it perfect for talking. Or venting.

"Unbelievable." Ironwood raged. "All talk and no action. They expect us to just let Sov, Torchwick, and all their flunkies get away scot-free because of, what, diplomatic immunity? All it would take would be a small strike force to grab them and go, and we would see them put before a firing line before the day was over. Instead, they claim they can't do anything, and then force us to do _their_ work for them."

"It's not like that at all, and you know it." Glynda retorted. "You were asking them to launch an assault on a sovereign nation to capture a member of royalty. You wouldn't expect Vale to invade Vacuo or Mistral to arrest someone of importance; why would you expect this world to attack the Reef?"

"Arresting and punishing Uldren Sov won't help us now." Ozpin added. "If anything, we might need the Reef to help us find a way home. _That_ is what's important now." He paused. "That, and deciding on whether we'll send our students in or not."

"I'm rather against it." Glynda said. "Yes, our students were already training to fight Grimm, and yes, they have already killed a sizable number so far. But they're still in training. And I imagine that fighting intelligent species is different from hunting wild beasts."

"All true, Glynda. But everyone who joins knows that a Huntsman's life can end far too early. As you pointed out, this is very much like what they've been training for. Why not let them use their skills to help our new allies? And of course, there's always the fact that there will be more Guardians searching for a way home than if we stayed in the City."

"I don't see why we simply can't use Beacon's portal to go back." Ironwood muttered.

"Because it's in Cabal hands right now. And we don't even know how it works. Perhaps it simply recalled to Mars, locking onto an original point. Or perhaps it was sheer luck. Without further study, we can only hypothesise. And who better to help us understand than the people who have dealt with the Vex far longer than we have?"

"So you think we should agree." Glynda stated.

"I do. But this isn't about us. It's about our students. They should be the ones deciding on what happens to them. Once the City links our Scrolls to their network, send out a message to all of them. Let them know what the Speaker is offering to them if they join."

"Of course. If you'll excuse me, I need to make sure our students are busy picking fights or falling off towers." Glynda headed back towards the ship.

"We're letting criminals escape justice." Ironwood said, once she had left.

"It's not about justice anymore. It's about getting everyone back home. Work with the Vanguard, with the students. Use that tactical mind of yours to help ensure as many of them come back safe."

And with that, he left too. Leaving Ironwood to stew all alone.

* * *

**Man. Remember how I said last chapter that I basically took two chapters and mushed them together? This one is the opposite. I had plans for this chapter that are going into next chapter simply because it was already so long. Didn't want it going on forever. But hey, at least you've got something to look forward to.**

**You know, I really planned on redeeming Ironwood in the eyes of the fans. After all, he's focused on protecting his world from outside unknown threats, and he's only a 'bad guy' because he rushed ahead. I thought I would do that in this chapter with him worrying about getting everyone home safe. But then we had the ending, where he's more focused on justice. Whoops. I'll just give him time to cool off and maybe try again.**

**Mind you, The Last City does have a point. The Reef is its own kingdom, and therefore they can't just charge in and demand they hand over royalty. It's just not done, and I doubt Mara Sov is going to be ok with it. What if they decide they want to arrest her too? Plus, they kinda are fighting a war already. Against the Hive, the Fallen, the Vex, and the Cabal. I think having the Reef an enemy is one too many.**

**So for those wondering about what happens when HoW happens (House of Wolves) The City isn't going to have an embargo on the Reef or something. Skolas is simply too dangerous to ignore. So we'll have scenes in the Reef too. Maybe have our friendly Remnants get into a fist fight with Roman and Cinder.**

**Oh, and I'm still interested in a story where Weiss chose Jaune as her partner instead of Ruby. If anyone knows of a story like that, can you let me know? And if one doesn't exist (a bit surprised if that's the case) is there someone out there willing to write it? **

**Can't think of anything else to say right now. So enjoy, and see you guys after the April update.**


	12. Guardian 101: Class in Session

**Chapter 12: Guardian 101. Class in Session**

"Wow." Ruby breathed, taking in the awe-inspiring view before them.

"So, that's their god." Blake said aloud. "The being that gave them the power to fight back against the threats hounding them, and gave _us_ the power of Aura and Dust."

Yang tilted her head. "It's a big floating ball. I was kinda expecting a god to look more… I dunno, impressive."

"You really have no sense of tact, do you? A god-like being in hovering right before us, and you're more concerned that it's not impressive enough."

"I'm just saying. I was expecting something a hundred miles high, with lightning blazing from his fingers and a beard of fire or something. Oh, and abs. Can't forget the abs." Blake rolled her eyes. "I think _the city_ is more impressive than that traveller doohickey. Look how big it is. You could fit all of Vale in just one district of this place."

"Well _of course_ it's big. This is their entire population congregated into one spot. There's nowhere else in this entire solar system that they can live without being shot at. Obviously this place would be far more massive than _any_ city back on Remnant." Weiss lectured.

"Hey, speaking of a system… We just got teleported god-knows how many miles to a desert, hopped onto a massive ship and teleported to _another_ place, and found out that we literally went from one world to another. Am I _really_ the only one here surprised by that? How come _they_ can do space travel but we can't even leave the planet?"

"SDC research has hypothesised that some factor causes all Dust-based products to cease working once they go a certain distance above the ground, forcing Atlas scientists to now discover or make a new fuel source that doesn't rely on Dust to work." Weiss said in rote. "It's most likely that their lack of Dust caused the people of this world to discover alternative means of fuel much sooner than we did, thereby causing them to have a means of achieving space flight that functions off world."

"Ruby, what are your thoughts on this?" Blake asked. She turned, seeing Ruby gazing off… in the wrong direction. "Uh, Ruby?"

"So… many… weapons." She whispered. The other shook their heads in exasperation. She hadn't even been paying attention. She had been too busy drooling over the Guardians. "Look. That Guardian has a high-velocity machine gun. A-and that one's got an automatic shotgun. And look at those two over there. The guy with the cape has what looks like a dual barrelled pistol. While his opponent has a… rocket launcher?" They all flinched as the armoured Titan fired a rocket at point blank range, sending him, his opponent, and the three Guardians watching flying like ragdolls." I'm… not too sure who won that duel."

"I'm going for the rocket dude. After all, he killed everyone else." Yang offered.

"_And_ himself." Blake countered.

"Well, he's the only one laughing. I think I agree with Yang." Ruby remarked. The Titan had resurrected himself and was almost doubled over, laughing at the others. They all promptly ganged up on him and started bashing him over the head with their gun barrels.

"I was five hundred experience from completing my Unstoppable bounty you asshole!" One of the Guardians was shouting.

"Totally worth it!" The Titan called back, even as they bashed his skull in.

Weiss shook her head. "Guardians are _completely_ insane."

"Yeah, they are. We should see if they've got popcorn, sit out here and see what kind of crazy things they get up to." Yang said. Ruby started chuckling before she spotted a familiar caped figure heading towards them. Bianca.

"Hey." She said once she had gotten close enough. She had removed her helmet, one hand twirling her gun around in a beautiful but dangerous way. "I see you four are taking in the local wildlife."

"Do Guardians normally blow each other up for a laugh?" Weiss asked her. Bianca smirked at her before tossing a grenade over her shoulder, it sticking to one Guardian's shoulder. They all scattered as he flipped her off, his body flung by the explosion. "I guess that answers my question."

"What can I say? Being pretty much immortal makes you feel really blasé about not killing yourself."

"What's an Unstoppable bounty?" Blake asked. "One of them got angry because he was only so many 'experience' away from it."

"Whenever a Guardian does something to help the Light – Usually kill enemies or recover important tech and knowledge – they gain more Light exp. I don't know what it's really called, but we just keep calling it that to differentiate it from the Light that enhances our abilities. It builds up in our bodies, our weapons, and our armour. With it, we can take an ordinary item and make it better until it fills up. An Unstoppable bounty asks us to gain a lot of exp without dying."

"Which must be difficult."

"It can be. _If_ you're not careful." She glanced back. "And if you hang around idiots with rocket launchers. Now, there was actually a reason I came looking for you four. Our weaponsmith, Banshee-44, heard all about how nearly every weapon on Remnant is a hybrid weapon, and he's _very_ interested in having a look at a few of them. I'm the only one available who knows some Remnants, and he asked me if I could bring you to him."

"What exactly will this examination involve?" Weiss asked.

"I don't _think_ it'll be anything intrusive. I think he's got a machine that can scan weapons for him, virtually disassembling and reassembling them. He'll just put them inside, get his data, we're in and out."

Ruby nodded. "Well, I'm up for it. We could talk shop with him. I'd love to know what kind of modifications he does to weapons."

"Then we're going to the right person. Banshee caters exclusively to the Vanguard and the Guardians. He's built most of the weapons we use, with the few exceptions." Bianca led them away from the railing, towards the back area of the Tower.

"Most of the weapons? Who builds the others?" Blake asked her.

"Weapon manufacturers in the City. There's a few out there, but the Vanguard doesn't make deals with them. The balance of power is incredibly fine down there, and it's all too easy to upset it. Having the weight of the Guardians behind them could easily lead to another Foundry War. Some of them make an anonymous donation to the Vanguard, just enough to get a favour."

"Didn't you just say that the support of the Vanguard could lead to another war?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah. But when you're fighting for the survival of humanity, a sweet rocket launcher capable of blowing apart a Skiff can make it easy to bend the rules a little." She saw the look Weiss was giving her. "Even though there's an 'us' and a 'them', things aren't all black and white. We're all living people; even in the end of days, people are always pushing for their own interests."

"Indeed." They had reached a small kiosk set up along one of the side walls, weapons hanging from the walls and set up on the counter top. Before them was a blue-plated Exo with yellow markings on his head and several antennae sticking out from the side of his skull. Blue circles on silver metal marked out his eyes, while the rest of him was hidden underneath tattered blue robes. It was him who had spoken. "Every week I get requests from the Foundries asking me if I would be interested in acting as a spokesperson for them. Suggest you Guardians use their weapons over others. I just bin them all and get back to work." He nodded his head at them. "Remnants. Nice to meet you finally."

"Excuse me? What did you just call us?" Weiss asked hotly, hands on her hips.

"People have been talking about how your world is called Remnant. Ergo, everyone's decided to call you people Remnants after your home planet. Makes it easier to sort out who's from where."

Bianca clapped her hands together. "Well, it's been nice talking to you guys, but I've got people to kill, weapons and armour to replace, and Light levels to acquire. Banshee, I'll leave Team RWBY in your capable hands."

He nodded at her. "I'll get to work on that hand cannon for you as soon as I'm done here." She nodded and pulled out Tyrion, vanishing into Light. Banshee turned his attentions to Team RWBY. "Alright. Who's first."

Ruby raised her hand, but Yang stepped in front of her. "I'll go first. Meet Ember Celica, the most badass gauntlets around." She pulled off her bracelets, letting them expand into weapon mode as she set them down. Banshee grabbed them and placed them inside a machine to his right, beams scanning the gauntlets once it was closed. Their schematics appeared on the screen attached.

"Hmm. Layered plating, set up on rollers and tracks to fold outwards to form armour. Shells wrapped around central ring set around the wrist. Hand cover on a separate track, able to release the spent round before slotting in the next. Firing mechanism hooked up to the palms, triggered through pressure and force. Range is extensive, but seems mainly built for close range attacks, augmenting the initial punch. Useful for Titans." Banshee said almost to himself. He got them out of the machine and handed them back. "Next?"

Ruby waved both her arms, but Weiss got in her way. "I'll show you some _proper_ Atlesian technology." She said proudly, presenting Myrtenaster. "Here. The latest in Multi Action Dust Rapier technology." Banshee picked it up, giving it a dubious look. His machine whirred away.

"Simpler design. Rapier-style blade designed for piercing attacks. Only real modification is the revolver barrel set into the hilt. Each chamber shows trace amounts of Dust, likely designed to hold and access several in quick succession. Ornate, but useless without functional Dust."

"_Useless?_" Weiss repeated in shock.

Banshee handed it back to her. "If you're planning on going outside the City, see me first. We'll need to get you equipped with a rifle of some kind."

"But… But…"

"Next." Ruby was jumping up and down now, waving her arms, but Blake placed her pistol onto the counter. Again, it was scanned. "Two parts, a sheath and a sword. The sheath is sharpened on one side, allowing it to be used as a blade. Likely adds extra mass behind blows. Second actual blade is slimmer, similar to the katana weapons once used by the Japanese. Has a hinge close to the hilt, location suggests that it transforms into another bladed form. Hole in frame suggests something is tied here, perhaps a long cord to throw and spin the weapon around its owner. Gun compartment appears to be a standard pistol, focusing on high rate of fire over stopping power. Main use; confusion. Keep the enemy on guard." He handed Gambol Shroud back, leaving just Ruby waving her arms fast enough to nearly achieve flight. "Your turn, Red. Let's see your weapon."

"Yes." Ruby cheered, pumping her arm. She pulled out Crescent Rose and unfolded it, nearly planting the point into the counter. Banshee almost looked surprised as he took it from her with both hands. "I call her Crescent Rose. She's a High Calibur Sniper Scythe, and she holds at least thirty rounds. Able to hit an enemy from at least a mile, the blade acts as a stand, allowing one to keep a steady aim even with rapid fire. The blade itself is able to slice through anything with a defensive rating of at least two, and has even been able to cut through a level four with sufficient force behind it."

"Hm. Sounds impressive. The size must be problematic though." And he had a point; completely unfolded, Crescent was taller than she was.

"It used to be. But then I incorporated the kickback from it into my fighting style, giving me the kinetic energy to slice my targets."

"I see. Thank you for letting me see your weapons. I might be able to add some alt modes to new weapons after this. And I can also add some weapon training programs to help them learn to fight with these."

"Wait. You mean that you guys don't have to train?" Yang asked him.

Banshee chuckled. "Most Guardians had never held a weapon before they were first revived, much less fired one. They need to be self-sufficient and skilled in any weapon they come across. Hence, their weapons interface with their suits to load combat programs into them. Thanks to them, a newly-risen Guardian can use anything from an auto rifle to a sniper rifle within a second of finding it."

"Wow. That sounds really unfair. We have to spend hours and days training while they just let their suits fight for them?"

"The City can't waste time training Guardians up to standards the old-fashioned way. We need soldiers ready and able fast."

"I… suppose that makes sense." Weiss said begrudgingly. "Still seems a bit like cheating though."

Banshee shrugged. "One man's cheating is another man's advantage. And we _need_ every advantage we can get." He turned towards his computer, handing Crescent back and scrolling through the data he received. "Thanks again. I'll load some Glimmer to your Ketch once I'm done documenting everything."

"Right. See ya Banshee." Ruby said, leading her team away. They passed a squad of Guardians busy kicking around a soccer ball before Ruby clapped her hands together. "Alright. So, what do we do now?"

"I dunno. There's not really much to do around here." Yang replied. "We're too young to go drinking at the bar, and there's no entertainment stand around here. At least, I don't think so." She snapped her fingers. "I've got it! Why don't we have a look around the City? This place is big enough that there's _got_ to be something to do."

"We should be careful though. We don't know anything about the City. We could get lost down there."

"Good point." Ruby mulled, hand on her chin. She looked back up at the Guardians kicking the ball around, before coming up with something. If she were a cartoon character, she'd have a lightbulb dinging over her head right now. She quickly headed towards the nearest Guardian and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me? Mr Guardian sir?" He bounced the ball off his head before turning to look at her. He had the bluish skin of an Awoken, and wore a large cloak of the Hunters. "Um, hi. My friends and I were wanting to go and explore the Last City, maybe play some games or watch something. Would it be too much to ask for someone to escort us around?"

"Hey, Dai'man." Another Hunter shouted at him. "I didn't know you had aspirations to be a babysitter." He and his teammates chortled at that, slapping each other on the back. The Awoken rolled his eyes.

"Sorry kid. Not interested." He replied, waving them off. He kicked the ball again, sending it flying away. They all ran after it, shouting at each other.

"Hmph. Talk about rude." Weiss said.

"I guess not everyone's going to polite to us." Blake added.

"Ah, it'll be fine. We just need to find someone more… willing. Like, uh… Like…" She stopped, tilting her head. "Hey. Wasn't that woman with Ti'ana's boyfriend?"

"Who?" Blake asked, turning around. Ruby pointed to an Awoken woman with spiked up purple hair, wearing red and white armour and humming to herself with a bounce in her steps. Yeah, that armour _had_ to be hers. What did that Warlock call her again? Genki? Gen Ki? Something like that. Ruby ran up behind her, quickly tapping her on the shoulder. Shen then suddenly found herself lying on her back, the Awoken's hand gripping her arm tightly.

"Whoa." Genki said, quickly letting go and jumping back. "Sorry about that. Got a bad case of Hive Nerves just before. But you really should be more careful about sneaking up on people." She moved back in and pulled Ruby to her feet singlehandedly. "Some Guardians are so used to _just_ dealing with other Guardians that they put a bullet in your brain before you can say 'hi' if you did that."

"Excuse me?! People are willing to blow someone's brains out for saying hello?!" Weiss asked in shock.

"Only if you sneak up on them." Genki teased the tips of her hair. "Anyway, don't think we've been properly introduced. The name's Gen'ki. That's Genki with an apostrophe after the 'n'. That's _very_ important."

"Ruby Rose. And these are my teammates Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long." Ruby replied.

"Huh. Last names. Hardcore. So what can this badass party girl do for you?"

"We are in need of a chaperone for our trip into the Last City itself." Weiss explained. "However, the Guardians we've asked have been rather rude to us."

Who doesn't want to go for a night in a club with some fun-looking people like us?" Yang asked rhetorically.

"I know, right? I'd go for a club over hunting down what's left of Crota's invasion army. But some people just don't have their priorities straight."

"So you'll take us?" Ruby asked excitedly.

"Sure. We'll just need to go below to reach the transport ships." She waved an arm towards the stairs heading into the tower, and Team RWBY quickly followed her. They passed through a couple of doors and went down more stairs before arriving in a terminal. There were already several people waiting around, dressed in covering hoods and wraps. "Workers, cleaners, and admins." Gen'ki explained. "We need people to deal with the things we don't want to, and they get to have a steady paycheck. I think this is the morning crew. Or the midnight crew. Heading back home for some shut eye while the noon crew take their place." She started bobbing her head, listening to a tune only she could hear. "By the Traveler, having a normal life would be weird." She said a bit loudly.

"I'm sure they think the same about being a resurrected corpse brought back to constantly fight." Blake replied.

Gen'ki gave her a look, expression a bit hard. "You seem to know a lot. You one of those kids that Fireteam Tramon talked to?" Ruby nodded. "I'm glad they're back. Boss was a real downer when he thought Ti'ana didn't make it. Got real moody, didn't do anything but fight and study the Black Garden. At least now he'll have his sense of humor back."

"He really missed her, didn't he?" Ruby guessed.

"Sure did. Probably gonna be one of those lovebirds that last centuries. Most Guardians go for friends with benefits rather than the whole 'I will be with you till the end of time' thing."

"What do you think Ti'ana's doing right now?"

"My guess? Making up for lost time."

* * *

Over the centuries that Guardians had been around for, over the time the Last City has stood strong, there have always been people who climb the highest points of the Towers for peace and quiet. A place to relax, to ponder the world, to plot pranks on their fellow warriors. Ti'ana and Solas were one of those people, who had claimed a rooftop ledge for themselves. Ti'ana boosted up onto it, stepping onto the ledge and walking to the far edge overlooking the City. Behind her, Solas grabbed hold and pulled himself up, puffing slightly from the exertion.

"Titans are hax." He said softly. It was something many non-Titans agreed on. While Warlocks had to hope they had enough upward momentum, and Hunters had to time their jumps right, a Titan could simply rocket up onto a higher ledge in a single go. Some peoples answer to that was to boot them off the ledge.

"Ah, quit complaining and sit down already." Ti'ana said to him, having overhead his grumbling. "It's been way too long since we've watched the City from up here."

"Yes, it has been." Solas sat down next to her, as she laid her arm around him. The view was quickly forgotten as they both laid back, wrapping each other in their embrace and kissing passionately.

After several long, satisfied minutes of this, they both simply laid there, hands wrapped tightly around each other.

"Haley-51 is new." Ti'ana noted. "What happened to Ada?" Bringing up the fates of missing Guardians was always a touchy business. But sometimes, they weren't as gone as people thought. Sometimes, they simply ended up elsewhere, weeks or months later. Talking about them could lead to closure, or a rescue.

Solas looked up at the sky, a tear rolling down his cheek. He took a halting breath. "Gone. He gave his life so that we could survive. A lot has happened while you were gone."

"Tell me."

"Crota, Son of Oryx and the High Lord of the Moon, started making a comeback. His generals were rising again, and his armies were preparing to wage war on Earth." Ti'ana blinked in surprise. She had heard of Crota before. The leader of the Hive forces here, he had taken the Moon from them. The City led a massive assault of Guardians against him, and he forced them into retreat. His blade silenced the Light of hundreds of Guardians, their biggest loss since The Collapse itself.

She had managed to somewhat avenge those fallen Guardians by destroying his sword. She thought that was the end of that.

"The Vanguard organized the Guardians again. Not for a full frontal assault, but for small strikes against his generals. We even managed to stop a ritual to bring him back fully. We thought it was over. But our resident Hive expert, Eris Morn, told us that it wasn't. That Crota was still alive in an Ascendant Realm, preparing to return again."

Ti'ana frowned. "How does this Eris know so much about Crota?"

"Because she was part of a team that tried to end him months ago. The only survivor, in fact. She had been wandering the halls of the Hellmouth, doing as the Hive did to survive. Whatever she really is, I'd hesitate to say she's fully human anymore."

"I… see." She nodded. "Keep going. You found out about this Ascendant Realm. Then what?"

"My team and Xlorm were chosen for the raid. We would fight our way into the heart of the Hellmouth, enter the realm, and kill Crota in there. He's vulnerable in it, you see. His power may be at full strength, but he's as mortal as anyone else. And after hours of grueling fighting and nearly dying so many times, we did it. Ada slew him with a copy of his own blade. Buried it right in his corpse. Made him scream." Solas sighed. "But we weren't the only ones to hear his cry. Every Hive in the area started coming for us. Our ammo was nearly spent, our Light nearly depleted, and our strength nearly gone. Even as we killed the first ones to arrive, we knew we wouldn't be able to make it out of there with them on our tails."

"So Ada stayed behind." She said, understanding.

He nodded. "He had been gutted by Crota. He wasn't in any condition to move quickly. So he guarded our rear, fought off the Hive so we could get out of there. We had just reached the Hellmouth again when the hall behind us lit up with green light. According to Sparks, it was some kind of undead replica of a star. No one with Light could've survived that." He turned to look at her. "But we did it. We killed Crota. We made it out. We walked into Hell and survived. I just wished that we could've _all_ walked out." He pulled her closer, resting her head against his chest. "Losing him so soon after losing you… was pure torture."

Ti'ana smiled sadly. "Don't you worry. This time, I'm here to stay. I won't leave you again."

* * *

"Hey Raith." Katie called out cheerfully as she approached the Exo. Raith-7 was her on/off partner, someone she worked with when Bianca and Ti'ana were busy with other things. He was wearing the usual leathers and cape of a Hunter, his helmet off to reveal grey plating and a red plate over his forehead. Some people considered him a bit weird, mainly because he had red optics and half the plating on his face removed, making him look like some skeletal monster. Raith turned towards her, expression set to his customary frown. She leaned forward, smiling at him. "I've been hearing stories about you searching for days in the Black Garden. And in the Vault of Glass. _And_ you even made a trip to the Cathedral. Did you really miss me and my bed that much?"

He grunted, glowering at her. "Don't be ridiculous. I didn't miss you at all; especially not your flirting. I just prefer to work alongside people I can trust. People whose competence I know I can depend on. You were just at the top of my list. Gear up and be ready in two hours; we've got a mission waiting for us. A Primus has gotten his hands on a relic from Clovis Bray; The Cryptarchs want it back ASAP. _Don't_ be late." And he turned away, heading into the Tower.

Katie smirked as she walked in the other direction. "Oh yeah. He missed me alright." His 'I don't like people, and I don't expect to be friends' routine didn't fool her. If all he _really_ cared about was her level of skill, he wouldn't have spent three weeks straight combing the Vex confluxes.

She picked up a few bounties from the board, a couple relating to combat on Mars. She really needed to boost her Vanguard reputation, see if she could get any new better gear from them. She then decided to go to the Hanger, hang out at the bar in there until it was time. She had just reached the walkway hanging over the hanger bay when she spotted several people working on a radar-looking thing. A radar-looking thing with cables everywhere and bits and pieces almost hammered into place. Two of the workers were arguing over a part of it. One of them was wearing... an Atlesian uniform.

Right. _Now_ she recognized the general design.

"…Look, you guys had me practically dragged from the ship _specifically_ because I'm the repairman for this thing." The Remnant was saying hotly. "The least you can do is actually _listen_ to me when I tell you shit. And I keep telling you guys; that part you have hanging off the edge, is supposed to go _on top_."

"I work on fixing Golden Age radio towers." The Tower technician was shouting back. "I rebuild things meant to broadcast to other worlds and put your antiques to shame. I know what the hell I'm doing." Katie shook her head ruefully. No matter where you go, no matter what things happened in the past, there will always be people arguing over stupid things. Or certain that _they_ know better.

One of the things Guardians may be expected to do is act as a police force. That meant that the other workers would probably expect her to jump in a break this up.

"Hey boys." She called out cheerfully as she strolled nonchalantly towards them. Everyone turned to look at her, the Atlesian and the Chief Technician still glowering. "Take a chill pill. Take a few chill pills. Find a lady friend. Or a guy friend, if you're into that. Just calm down and take five for a moment."

The chief nodded to her. "Guardian. Glad that you're here. This idiot keeps trying to tell me how to do my job on fixing this prehistoric ornament."

"Excuse me?!" The Atlesian replied angrily. "Your leaders asked General Ironwood to send me over to _help_ you! Because if you were so damn smart, you'd obviously have had this up and running yesterday! Is the 'ornament' too outdated for you to figure out?" They faced off, ready to fight.

Katie formed an orb of Void energy in her hand. "Hey! I said calm. Down." The two of them eyed her hand warily, and took several steps back. "Thank you. Now, what's the damn problem? Because to me, it sounded like you guys are too busy arguing over how this gets put together to actually _do it_."

"That's uh… That's pretty much what it sounds like, Warlock." One of the other technicians replied sheepishly. "We've got most of it connected, but now we've been arguing over this last piece over here. The chief says it gets connected to the mainframe through the ports here, but the Remnant says it plugs in on top. Work's slowed to a halt while they try and sort it out."

Katie rolled her eyes, and pulled Dinklebot out. "You mind helping sort this mess out?"

"Of course." He replied, floating towards the CCT. "I always enjoy utilizing the information I find." Beams flashed from his eye, picking up bits and pieces and rearranging them. "You guys had the right idea, but several of these parts require a different configuration. Don't worry, I'll fix it."

"What?" The Atlesian looked surprised. "Hey, what makes you think you know what you're doing?"

"Oh, we hacked the CCT when we first arrived on Remnant. I've got the blueprints to it in my database. Cross reference them to Golden Age technology, and…" A wireframe formed around the completed CCT, forming a near-seamless tower. "…Done. Give it a spin."

"…Damn Ghosts are gonna put us out of a job." The Chief muttered, tapping away at the console. The Atlesian imputed his start-up codes at the same time, and the tower whirled to life. The Atlesian pulled out his Scroll, and started tapping away at it.

"All connections are secure. Signal range is being boosted off the charts. Everything is green across the board… The CCT is fully online." He gave Katie a look. "Uh… Thanks. I should probably report this to the General."

"No problem. You go do that. As for the rest of us, who's up for some drinks?"

Almost everyone agreed.

* * *

Weiss frowned as she leaned forward, staring at the little hologram before her. "It's kinda… small, isn't it? I mean, what scale are we working from?"

Gen'ki shrugged. "I don't know. A hundred thousand miles maybe? Earth is big enough for a few billion people. It's just, you know, relative."

Blake looked upwards at Mars and Venus, both projected further away. "And you said that the Earth is millions of miles away from the sun?"

Gen'ki's Ghost, Sigma, appeared before her. "93 million miles, to be precise. Otherwise known as a single Astronomical Unit, or AU for short. And we're only the _third_ closest planet. The further planet, Pluto, is a little bit over 39 AUs from the sun. And that's almost like bumping shoulders to the galaxy at large. Everything outside the solar system is measured in light-years."

"Light… years?" Weiss asked in surprise, pointedly ignoring Yang's attempt to amuse herself by sticking her finger into the Earth hologram and making silly noises.

Sigma nodded. "Obviously it refers to anything far enough away from a source of light that it would take the light of a star a whole year to reach them. Bear in mind though that the speed of light is the fastest speed possible through standard science. And that has not only been considered unfeasible to obtain, but also far too slow for intersystem exploration. Even on Earth, it takes at least 8.3 minutes for the sun's light to reach us. If it were to suddenly die out, we'd have eight whole minutes before we finally noticed."

Blake was backing away slightly, looking very nervous. "And… how long exactly would it take to reach Remnant from here?"

"We're not sure. Fireteam Tramon never found any data that would suggest your system's placement in the Milky Way. Or even if you're based in our galaxy at all. For reference sakes though…" The hologram changed, turning into a spinning disc, with two arms stretching outwards in a spiral. "...We are currently here. And by we, I mean the solar system." A tiny square, barely bigger than a fingernail, lit up near the middle of one arm. It expanded out to the side to show the solar system image.

Earth was so tiny compared to the solar system. But the Milky Way galaxy made even the system seem like an ant.

They all gulped. They _definitely_ weren't going to just hop on the Ketch and fly home.

Gen'ki clapped her hands together. "Ok. I think we've been at the museum long enough. Let's go do something that's _fun_. Like Grifball. Grifball's always a fun way to let off some steam."

"Grifball? What's that?" Ruby asked.

"It's kinda like… well, every sport involving a ball I guess. One person –known as the 'Grif' – is carrying a bomb and racing to place it on the other team's goal. But everyone else is carrying these huge hammers, and they're all trying to smash the opposition. _Especially_ the Grif. I once managed to drop the bomb on the goal while my corpse was sailing through the air. Awesome times."

Team RWBY glanced at each other. "Gee, that _does_ sound like fun. But maybe we'll play a less lethal game." A series of chimes echoed slightly, causing them to look at their belts and pockets.

Their Scrolls were flashing.

"A message? But I thought all the Scrolls were inoperable." Yang said curiously. She was right, of course. The Scrolls required an active CCT tower to function. They weren't really built with the thought that they'd end up on another planet anytime soon. And yet here it was, again something more than a hunk of metal.

The four of them opened them up, finding a message already on screen. "This looks like an update on things." Ruby said aloud. She cleared her throat before reading it out loud. "_To all students. We have managed to restore communications through Scrolls, and have also reached an agreement with the leaders of The Last City. As of our moment of arrival, we are all classified as honorary citizens of The Last City. At the beginning of each week we are here, we will receive supplies from the City. Food, water, and a weekly allowance of Glimmer, the local currency. However, for those interested in aiding the Last City, testing their training against the foes of this system, or even just acquiring better supplied, the Last City has made us an offer. To join the Guardians in protecting and reclaiming their worlds._

_Something that should be clear though is that this is __**strictly optional**__. You are not being forced to go out and fight. The forces of Darkness will be dangerous, and no one can make any guarantees about your survival outside the City. If you feel as though it is too dangerous, you are allowed to remain here._

_For those who __**are**__ interested however, please report to the balcony area of Tower 1 by noon tomorrow. Anyone late will have to wait till another session to join._" They all looked at each other, mulling over the letter they had just read.

"Sooooooooo… See you guys out in the field?" Gen'ki asked nonchalantly.

"_Are_ we going to accept?" Weiss questioned. "This won't be like fighting the Grimm. We will be facing new, unknown threats with more dangerous weapons and abilities. They will be smarter and more cunning than what we're used to. And need I remind you girls that we needed the help of three Guardians to get out of that Hive lair safely?"

"Come on. How is this any more dangerous than what we've already been training for? I mean, why would any of us become a Huntress if we're afraid of a little danger like Weiss is?" Yang asked rhetorically.

"I'm not afraid. I'm merely being cautious. There's no rule that says we have to jump head-first into unknown danger for no reason. And I only want everyone here to be sure they understand the risks."

"The two of you both have good points." Blake said diplomatically. "Weiss is right that we should understand the risks if we work outside the City. But Yang's also right in that it can't be any more dangerous than what we were going to face back home."

"So now that we're done talking, who wants to become an honorary Guardian?" Yang asked, raising her hand. Ruby raised hers too, along with Blake. Weiss sighed, but raised hers as well. "Great. So we'll all meet up near the balcony tomorrow. Time to show every Guardian here what Huntsmen are made of."

"Yeah!" They all cheered.

* * *

"We'll finally get to see what these kids are made of." Cayde said to Ikora and Zavala, the three of them standing behind a one-way screen. On the other side were over a hundred kids, all a variety of outfits and weapons. Guardians may be varied too in terms of weapons, armour, and shaders, but at least they still looked dangerous. He could swear he spotted some kid holding onto a horn of some kind. "Are we sure about this?"

"Not entirely." Zavala admitted. "But having some of them out there collecting materials and supplies will help lessen the strain on our resources. And we're still low on the numbers we need to properly reclaim Earth from the Fallen and the Hive."

"Oh, and you think a hundred kids can make all the difference?"

"They can at least help us push harder. That hundred might be the difference between victory and defeat."

"There's no point arguing about this now." Ikora acted the part of a mediator. "We had this conversation before we brought this up with Headmaster Ozpin and General Ironwood. They are training to defend their world from the beasts of the Darkness. As long as we're all careful, they should be able to handle our enemies without any loss of life."

"Careful. Yeah right." Cayde scoffed. He glanced over at the _fourth_ member of their group. "You ready for this, Shaxx?"

The war-scarred Titan looked in his direction, likely glowering under his helmet. "This is an insult to the Crucible." He replied, his quiet voice at odds with his appearance.

Cayde rolled his optics. The Crucible, despite all the religious phrases Shaxx used, was simply arena combat between Guardians instead of Guardians vs the Darkness. A way to hone someone's skill without them risking being permanently killed. Guardians fought, they killed each other, and they collected loot and ranked up their reputation in the Crucible. And yet here Shaxx was, acting like they were 'defiling' it. "There's nothing wrong with having a fight and _not_ have people die in the end." He retorted. "People did that all the time before they became immortal."

"Where is the blood? Where is the carnage? Where is the risk if someone's holding your hand at all times, ready to pull you to safety?" He gestured towards the waiting children. "These children wouldn't last in a Crucible match, let alone survive out there."

"We don't know that for certain." Ikora said. "From Fireteam Tramon's reports, they can handle themselves rather well for their age."

Shaxx turned to face Zavala. "You once thought we were strong enough to take the moon back from Crota. I said we weren't anywhere close to ready. Are you going to ignore me again?"

Zavala's brow furrowed, the memory of that fiasco still painful. "This time will be different. We won't send them against dangerous threats. Not at first. Consider this just a test of their strength. Even if all they fight are the regular enemies, it'll free up Guardians to help research Vex technology and find them a way home." Shaxx still looked dubious though. Well, as dubious as you could in a helmet.

"Shaxx. You already agreed to this." Ikora reminded him.

"Because I owed Zavala a favour." He replied. "But fine. We'll see how quickly they fall before the Darkness."

"Great. Now that we're done arguing over things we've already talked about, how about we get this thing started." Cayde said. The screen before them slid downwards, the lights behind them brightening. The Huntsmen stopped talking and looked upwards at them in surprise.

"Huntsmen." Zavala said. "Thank you for coming here today. Though it may not seem like much, your aid could very well be the tipping point in our fight to reclaim our former worlds from The Darkness." He gave them a stern look. "But make no mistake; this _will_ be dangerous. Our enemies are numerous, and deadly. Your Auras will defend you for a time, but they don't make you invincible. Some of you may not come back from your missions."

Cayde spoke up. "That's theatric talk. Translation; now is your only chance to back out and head for safety. Once this moment's passed, you can't just look at the enemy and 'nope' your way out of there. By staying, you're agreeing to risk your lives to protect and recover our history. So no pressure or anything." Some of the students glanced nervously at each other or showed other signs of fear. But none of them left. Cayde nodded. "Alright then. You're all sworn in. Welcome to the Savior's club."

"But before we send you out into the field, we need to make sure that you are prepared for what's waiting for you out there." Zavala continued. "It will likely be a couple of days before we deem you ready to fight." Some of the kids groaned. "Today is about testing and seeing your training firsthand. We will evaluate your skill and abilities, and use the data to help prepare you."

"Among those preparations will be ensuring you are fully armed." Ikora took over. "We know that you already have weapons. Some less… conventional than others. But according to what your headmasters told us, some of you focus solely on melee combat, or on support. You might end up finding yourself in a situation where you will need to deal as much damage as possible to survive. In addition, we will be using your combat style to sort you into different roles. One of you might do better as an attacker than someone else, but fail at defensive measures. But sorting you into one of three categories, we can ensure that we place you into the right role for you."

The lights behind Cayde and Ikora faded, leaving only Zavala lit up. The symbol of the Titan Order, a hexagon divided into four diamond segments, appeared on the wall behind him.

"The Titans. Stalwart defenders of the Last City and her people. Decked out in heavy armour, their skills are focused towards drawing attention and protecting their less armoured allies. They are split into the close range brutes of the Striker, and the defensive support of the Defenders. If you are placed in here, your job is simple. Smash anything in your path, and keep yourself between the enemy and your allies." The wall behind him faded into darkness, lighting up again behind Cayde. The Hunter's symbol appeared, a series of leaning lines linking together like a tower of arrows.

"Hunters." Cayde said. "There's several names for people like us. Scouts; rogues; scoundrels; cowards; loudmouths with silly capes." Some of the kids giggled at that. "We're almost the opposite of the Titans. Instead of tanking damage, we ensure we don't get hit in the first place. That means that we move fast, we hit from afar, and we take every dirty advantage we can get. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you wrestled with a Fallen Captain or simply blew his head off from across the other side of the map. What matters is that you're still alive at the end of the day."

The screen lit up behind Ikora, the familiar line of triangles of the Warlocks behind her. "The Warlock Order. The researchers of the Last City. It is our duty to study and understand the vast array of items we find; both alien and terrestrial. We focus on the preservation of any tech or information that could aid the Last City… Along with putting bullets into anything that threatens to take it and misuse it." All the lights came back on, illuminating the three of them again.

"To business then. As this is now technically a Crucible match, allow us to hand you over to our Master of the Crucible, Lord Shaxx." They stepped to the side, allowing Shaxx to take centre stage. The students certainly noticed him, the light gleaming off his bulky white-and-orange armour, his featureless helmet, the long horn sticking out from one side, and the fur ruff covering one shoulder pad and his collar.

He killed a Fallen Archon for that fur. Killed him, and took it from his cape.

"The Crucible. A time-honored tradition of the Vanguard, a battle royale between Guardians. Every day, Guardians enter the arena to test their might against their brethren, to melt off the slag in the heat of battle, and be reforged into great warriors. The blood of tens of thousands of battles have stained these hollowed grounds, an eternal battle of skill, wit and strength. No one is safe within the Crucible, no one is too powerful to best. No matter how skilled you are, there will always be someone ready to end your reign." No doubt about it, that was one hell of a speech. It really spoke volumes of how much Shaxx revered the Crucible. "And then there's you lot. Warriors-in-training who can't truly tap into the might of the Crucible. Because you can't get back up after a sniper round to the head, or a fist to the face, or even a grenade sticking to your arm. And for that, I already feel as though your mere presence insults the Crucible." The students frowned at that. Cayde would to; they were pretty much told that they're not fit for the Crucible. "The Crucible is no place for children, no matter how capable. You want to prove yourselves to me? Show me that you won't go crying home for mommy the moment your life is at risk."

"You will be sorted into the teams you were part of before you arrived. Two teams will enter the arena; and they will be removed when The Vanguard and I deem their Aura too low to continue. Zavala feels that finding a winner is irrelevant. These fights are to test you and observe you in the heat of battle. I feel otherwise. I have found that people fight better when they have something to fight _for_. And so any team that wins their bout shall receive five hundred Glimmer each, one legendary class gear each, and forty Vanguard marks. You can save up those marks to buy armour and weapons from the Vanguard."

Cayde stepped forward, a pad in his hands. "Ok then. First fight is between Team J…jayen… jaynip…Jaynipar…"

"Team JNPR." Ikora said.

"JNPR, and Team CR… Karde…Cardio…"

"Team CRDL." Cayde glowered at her and pushed the pad forcefully into her hands.

"Fine. _You_ read them out Miss Smartyrobes." Teams JNPR and CRDL stepped forward, where they were teleported outside and above, to land in the arena. Formally a Guardian inhabited Tower, it was once the site of a battle. Not one between the Light and the Darkness, but between factions and politics. A former faction known as the Concordant, supported by affiliated Guardians and citizens, attempted a coup upon the Consensus, the ruling government of the Last City. Their leader, Lysander, refused to disband his faction, and Guardians were sent in to quash them. They crumbled beneath the combined might of the City, and Guardians of New Monarchy finally crushed his war efforts here in Bannerfall. Shaxx keeps it around as a constant reminder of what happens when a Faction gains too much power.

The window closed behind them, and they all turned to face the controls. Cameras floated around, eyes everywhere and able to keep up and keep track of the Huntsmen teams. JNPR on one side; CRDL on the other.

"Fighters, on my mark." Shaxx said, his voice projected through their scrolls. Three beeps sounded, counting down the seconds, before a loud horn bellowed. Both teams ran forward, though how they got there was different. A male and a female on JNPR sprang up onto the upper walkways, bouncing off walls to the centre. The other two stuck together, pressing on from ground level. By contrast, Team CRDL just muscled their way forward, sticking together. A single grenade or rocket could've done them in.

But then instead of heading forward, they all turned and ran in one of the side alleys. They then came around the side of JNPR, weapons firing Dust bullets at them. JNPR immediately scattered, seeking cover to hide behind. The ginger girl jumped overhead, firing grenades down on them before smashing their area with a hammer. Two more of her team moved in to aid her, the red haired warrior juggling her weapon and shield between Team CRDL.

CRDL's leader managed to sneak around, and found himself before JNPR's leader. He smirked, and Jaune Arc started running.

"CRDL's frontal assault isn't going too well." Cayde noted, watching as they were hammered on all sides by JNPR. "Don't know what their leader's thinking, leaving them like that and just running off."

"He's thinking short term." Zavala replied. "He's gone chasing after their leader. According to his records, Jaune Arc is a good strategist, and a terrible fighter. My guess would be that Cardin Winchester's trying to remove him from play so he can't come up with a winning strategy."

"June's already got a winning strategy; kick his team to the curb. And it's working." Already Team CRDL was being forced back, being bounced off walls and against each other. Nora Valkyrie slammed her hammer into the three and almost smashed them _through_ the wall. Luckily, it had been built with rocket launcher wielding Guardians in mind.

"Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark have all been eliminated." Shaxx called out. "A pathetic display." The beaten students were teleported back into the lower areas, where a hasty med bay had been set up. Team JNPR immediately set off after Cardin and Jaune, likely to save his ass.

They weren't going to make it in time though.

Cardin had already disarmed Jaune and was currently punching him in the face over and over again. At this rate, his Aura would be depleted before the rest of JNPR found them.

But then, as Cardin was about to land another punch, they both lit up. When the light faded, Cardin was lying on his back a few feet away, and Jaune Arc was unharmed. His Aura was visible now, a glowing outline around him. He immediately grabbed his sword and shield, and rushed for Cardin. Cardin got his mace and smashed it into Jaune, throwing his shield away. But when he went for the follow-up strike, it bounced off Jaune's Aura hard enough to nearly throw Cardin away. Jaune slashed at him with his blade, Cardin barely blocking in time. Any strike he made didn't even faze Jaune, who just pushed through it. A final blow sent Cardin falling to ground, a groove sliced into his armour.

"Cardin Winchester, eliminated." Jaune groaned and flopped onto his back. "Jaune Arc, also eliminated. Team JNPR is the winner. Well done. That would have been impressive against actual opponents." Team JNPR cheered as they were teleported back inside. Shaxx turned to the Vanguard. "I suppose they're not _completely_ insulting. Not all of them."

"Is that his way of saying we were right?" Cayde asked.

"That's as close as we're going to get from him." Zavala replied. He pulled out the pad and looked at the next names, his Ghost moving towards his face.

"Next up; Team SSSN vs Team FNKI…"

* * *

Sorting out the huntsmen wasn't all that hard. While many of them had abilities that laid outside the standards, they found similarities between how they used their Semblances and Guardians used the Light. The only arguments was when Cayde wanted a particularly 'interesting' Huntsmen on his group. But eventually they sorted them all out amongst the three Vanguard.

Now they needed to grant them equipment.

"You can't always rely on your Aura to defend you." Zavala said, walking down the room Eva Levante had set up for them. Curtains and stalls concealed the students as they used their upgraded Scrolls to equip the gear they were given. "You will likely find times where you have been fighting for so much that your Aura ends up depleted. When that happens, you need to be wearing more than just leather and cloth. Well-crafted and Light-infused armour could be the difference between life and death out there. As the defenders and the muscle of your teams, you need to make sure you have the toughest armour you can."

"Hey Military Man." One of the students, Yang Xiao Long of Team RWBY, called out to him. She had stepped out from behind the curtain, thankfully covered in full armour. "What exactly is the difference between all the gear and that 'legendary' leg armour I got? They don't feel like they're better quality to me."

"A good question. And an important one too. All the gear we recover or manufacture is graded by how much Light and abilities they can hold. When a Guardian first starts off, they only have basic gear, identified by the white colouring on your inventory screen. These items are weak, hold little Light, and almost never have abilities loaded onto them. Guardians usually replace them as quickly as possible. Up next is uncommon gear. They are identified by green engrams, and have a higher Light level than basic, along with one ability and modifiers. They tend to last Guardians for a while before they have to upgrade again. After that comes the Rare classed gear, which you are currently wearing now. They are usually found with medium to high Light levels, and at least three abilities to them. You'll often see Guardians walking around with at least one or more Rare gear on them. And at the top, is Legendary items. Built to much higher standards, they have several points in their favour. Most of the time they have the highest Light Level available, along with between five and six abilities. The modifiers they offer for the way your Light acts is amongst the highest as well, giving Guardians more ways to speed up certain ability usage. And according to our armoursmiths, they think that they can make them so that you can infuse the Light level of another item into your gear, increasing how tough it is." He paused. "There _is_ another grade above that. Exotic. But they are incredibly rare, and powerful enough that a Guardian can only equip one exotic armour piece and one weapon. The Ghosts just can't handle more than that."

"Oh, cool. So I guess my leggings _are_ better." She looked down at them, running a hand over the thigh plating and knee covers.

"Where exactly did you get all this stuff?" Jaune Arc asked. "Do you guys carry about a hundred units of armour just in case?"

"Not really. Guardians are expected to find and buy their own gear as a way of getting them out there fighting." Zavala admitted. "We simply offered glimmer in exchange for Rare gear. We were getting so many that we have to dismantle the weaker items and hand them out. Now, we can continue questions at a later date once we've acquired everything. If everyone's done, put on your helmets and I will help walk you through your Head's Up Display." Everyone stepped out of the curtains fully armoured up, their helmets under their arms. They started putting them on the old-fashioned way, some grumbling as they tried to get them fitted. All the armour was built to fit varying body sizes. A chest piece that belonged to a young woman could fit on a bulky musclebound man. He noticed that Yang Xiao Long was having trouble getting her hair into her helmet properly. "Miss Xiao Long. You'll have to cut your hair into a more manageable size."

The room went still as everyone looked at him in shock. Xiao Long stopped struggling with her helmet, and glared at him. Her eyes turned red, and her hair seemed almost like fire. "What did you just say, buddy?" She hissed.

He glared right back. "Young lady, I have faced off against things that would eat you alive. I have dealt with more wars than your entire family. I handle have dozens of fight-happy idiots who think they can try and intimidate me into giving them the exact gear they want. Your little temper tantrum isn't going to impress me. Now, either manage your hair, or trim it shorter." He turned away. "To those of you who _have_ your helmets on, follow…"

A red blip on his radar, coming up on his six. A frustrated growl, getting louder. He immediately twisted round, grabbing Yang Xiao Long's fist as she tried to punch him. He then twirled her overhead with one hand, before slamming her against the ground. Her breath exploded out of her by the impact, and her head bounced alarmingly against the ground. She groaned, curling up and clutching the back of her head.

"If you're finished, I think Eva can lend you a pair of scissors." He said, leaning over. He stood back up, and walked towards the other students. "As I was saying, follow me to the shooting range."

Behind him, Yang was helped to her feet by an older woman, who was talking to her quietly.

* * *

"Being able to move quickly is a good way to stay alive. But the _best_ way to stay alive is to put bullets into your enemies before they do it first." Cayde said, standing behind the student Hunters as they tested out their weapons. "Your gear has programs installed into them for all weapons we use, meaning that you can go from an Auto Rifle to a Rocket launcher and still use it like you've been training with it your whole life. That's a good thing, because you might have to switch weapons as you get used to a new fighting style. Everytime you get a different class of weapon, give it a try. You might find it easier to use than something else." He stopped behind two students, Lie Ren and Pyrrha Nikos of JNPR. "Take these two here. Miss Nikos has good eyes, and likes to fire single shots at a distant target. I'd give her a Scout Rifle for missions. Mr. Ren, on the other hand…"

"Mr. Lie, actually." He said softly.

"_On the other hand,_ Mr. _Ren_ seems to fight with sustained fire. If he had to switch weapons, an Auto Rifle would be right up his alley. And before any of you ask, the reason some of you have to use _our_ weapons is because, frankly, your stuff sucks. It's probably good for support or melee, but some guys are really dangerous up close. Pro-tip; you see a Hive Thrall with a glowing head, _never_ attack it in close range. It's been bred to explode. I died a few times they swarmed me, or I buried a knife in their head and didn't realise what they were. Another reason is that we've done a little research with your Dust. We're not completely certain, but we're pretty sure that they require Light in order to function; it's why you've never gotten off world before. It's ok on the worlds, since they're saturated in Light. But if you go into dens or places with a lot of Darkness, they might just cut out on you. In that case, you'll _need_ to have a back-up weapon. And your scrolls can only hold blueprints and schematics; you can't digitize your gear and swap them out like Guardians can. So choose wisely before heading away from the Tower. Weapons down." Everyone stopped shooting, and turned to face him. "That'll be enough for today. You guys can spend some more time here at the firing range until you feel comfortable with your gear. But make sure to get some rest. Tomorrow, it's time for classes about the Forces of Darkness. There _will_ be a quiz afterwards. And Ikora's told me that if you guys don't get ninety-five of it right, you have to go through the class _again_. And you can't go one missions until you pass it." He gave them a look. "Seriously. This could mean the difference between life and death."

"You guys always say that." Neon Katt groaned, her suit altered to have a leather sleeve for her tail.

"Because it's true. You guys can't walk off death. Guardians can fool around, die, and then rise up to fool around some more. You guys… Well, you have to take this much more seriously."

"Class dismissed."

* * *

**Ok then. Starting to get somewhere with this. Finally get to see our Remnants gearing up for battle. And of course, some regular interactions. One fan said that I should include some of that; just a bit of our characters getting used to being in outer space and on another world, our Fireteam catching up with thing back home, and stuff.**

**I always feel as though even in lore, Guardians would be really silly with dying. When you can resurrect, it makes a bit of sense to blow yourself up to kill your enemy. After all, it's not like it's permanent. And I'm sure Destiny fans are aware of how infuriating it can be having a Deathless bounty and dying five percent away from ending it. Kinda wish that Bungie kept the bit where bounty xp counted towards the Deathless bounty. Made things so much easier.**

**And they've rolled out the new update since I posted last. Had some fun with it, got some new gear, and am now constantly low on armour material since I used it all up infusing my gear. I like the Chroma-imbued gear, including stuff from the Vanguard. Only thing I don't like is that with the Vanguard, you can't buy the Chroma gear. And there's only one version per class. Meaning that with the Titan, you can't get the more slimming chest plate with Chroma. It has to be the big bulky chest place big enough to smuggle a rocket in. Kinda sucks, since I like how the Duskrender chest looks as opposed to the Pandion. Oh well. No one says I **_**have**_** to have it.**

**Also, RWBY Chibi came out. And I have to say I really like it. I won't spoil anything since there's a week wait before it comes out on YouTube, but it's really cute and funny and just adorable.**

**Next time, we see if our heroines have gotten better at class, and finally get them into battle. And possibly hijinks.**

**Edit: Oh, and Jaune's semblance hasn't been revealed yet. Not on the show at least. We can pretty much tell that it heals him and blocks damage though, so I threw it in here. Get him made into a Defender and all.**


	13. It's Dangerous to Go Alone

**Hey there Guardians. Sorry if this took a while; I've been a bit busy gaming, and getting some progress in the Year Two Moments of Triumph. I've got big plans for this story though, so you'll hopefully see another chapter much sooner.**

**But before we start, I just want to talk about something that's come up since the last chapter. Rise of Iron. I think that's pretty cool. It's nice to see them add another new area to the game, and it sounded like there would be another patrol area on Earth. I don't know if that means another green point on the map, or if we have to walk there. I kinda hope it's another patrol marker; it would be nice to have multiple patrol areas to go to.**

**But the biggest announcement was a Year Three Gjallarhorn. And that everyone can get it by completing a mission. That is **_**awesome**_**. And it helps get rid of the main reason they never brought it forward; you had to have one if you ever wanted to join a Raid. People were actually kicking out people who didn't have it… a bit like they are with the Black Spindle now.**

**But enough about that. It's late here, and I can't think of anything else to say right now. So just enjoy seeing Team RWBY in action.**

* * *

**Chapter 13: It's Dangerous to Go Alone**

"…Their shields have been found to be able to withstand most of our arsenal, with only Supers actually capable of piercing them or overloading them." Ikora Rey was lecturing, pointing at a picture on screen. It was a large humanoid figure, clad in khaki armor and holding onto a relatively small rifle. In its other hand, it held a giant diamond-shaped shield that matched its size. "Fortunately, they _can_ still be attacked from them front. They usually leave one part of themselves exposed by accident, whether it's a foot when moving, or their arm when attacking. Usually, firing a round into the exposed limb startles them, causing them to lower their shield. But the best way when fighting as a team is to attack their vulnerable backside. And of course, headshots are the most damaging."

Ruby looked around as everyone wrote down notes on the Cabal Phalanx. The lecture hall they were in, once used centuries ago to teach entire legions of Guardians, was finally getting some use again. All the Remnant students who qualified for field work were here, learning all about their upcoming enemies. Weiss was easily one of the most meticulous, already filling out her exercise book scroll thing. Jaune looked the most confused, tapping his stylus against his head. And in the back row were newly forged Guardians, preparing for a mission to Mars. Oh, and Professor Oobleck. He decided that as a teacher of knowledge, it would be important for him to learn everything he could about this world and its inhabitants, so he could bring it back to Remnant.

Ikora cleared her throat, getting their attention. Her Ghost did something, and the screen changed to show a much shorter creature. It was probably around their height, slim, and with a helmet with a single eye-like dot. "The next type of Cabal soldier is considered among the more easier foes to deal with, but also the most dangerous when in large numbers. The Psion. We believe that they are a servant species that the Cabal conquered and conscripted. While they don't have as much armour as the true Cabal, they are much more agile, and can unleash a powerful psionic wave. Though it can be avoided by jumping over, they like to use it while you're busy fighting the rest of their squad. They also function as engineers, hacking into our Golden Age technology. The Majors are always found with a Void barrier, so make sure that you have a Void weapon with you to speed up their deaths."

Nora raised her hand, hopping in her seat. "What if we don't have a Void weapon? What if all we got is a cool shotgun that shoots lightning at people?"

"It _is_ still possible to use an Arc weapon to break through their shields. It merely takes longer and more ammunition. But we are currently investigating whether or not it's possible to create Void Dust for you to use. For the moment though, progress has been… explosive." The screen behind her turned off, and the lights bloomed back on. "And those are the four races that are currently attempting to wipe out mankind and take our solar system from us. And while it's fresh in your mind, I need every last one of you to complete the test on your Scrolls. Remember; you _must_ get nearly all questions right to pass and be allowed on the field. Fail, and you will have to sit through this class _again_." Her Ghost pulled itself apart, a timer appearing from its eye. "You have one hour, starting… now." The Ghost beeped loudly, and virtual sand flowed downward.

Now everyone was paying full attention. Ruby tapped quickly at her Scroll, bringing up the list of questions. 'Which of these enemies do _not_ have their heads as their weak point?' The first question asked. Her options were Vandals, Thralls, Wizards, and Hobgoblins. It was actually pretty easy; Hobgoblins were a part of the Vex race, and those guys had their weak points in their abdomens. She tapped the correct box, and moved onto the next question.

'How does one destroy a Fallen Walker?'

'What shield types are commonly found on Vex units?'

'What element should be brought along to missions on the Moon?'

'Which of these materials can be found on Mars?'

'You are fighting the Hive, when you spot a Thrall glowing Aquamarine. What is the correct course of action for killing this foe?'

She wrote in the answer for the final question (If you are on Venus, and you find yourself surrounded by a dark fog, what does that signify?), and with a sigh of relief, sent the test through to Warlock Rey. Rey looked up from her datapad, gave her a small nod, and pointed at the door. That was what they had to do; after turning in their tests, they had to leave the room to avoid disturbing the others. And they would get their results in two hours.

Ruby felt the usual test jitters. She hoped she got enough right. She hoped she wasn't off by one question.

* * *

"We passed!" She screamed in joy, dancing on the spot and hugging Weiss. "We passed, we passed, we passed!"

"Well _of course_ we passed." Weiss said, pulling herself free. "It wasn't all _that_ difficult."

"I heard that the Guardians in that class passed with lower scores." Blake said.

"They can come back from the dead. I guess knowing your enemy isn't as important when you can walk it off." Ruby remarked. She leaned forward and looked at Yang. "Yang? Aren't you excited? We're going to be fighting alongside Guardians."

"Yeah. Swell." She muttered angrily. One hand was teasing her _much_ shorter hair. It was now level with her collar.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Are you _still_ upset with getting your hair cut? It's just a haircut. You can grow it back when we get back to Remnant."

"Nobody. Touches. My hair."

"Blake had her hair trimmed. And so did Velvet. And you don't hear _them_ complaining."

"What about you and your ponytail? I don't recall seeing _you_ getting a trim."

"I tied it up into a bun." She turned her head to show them, her long ponytail now in a little bun. Yang stared at it before turning away, muttering angrily.

"Okay…" Ruby said awkwardly. "Well, now that we're officially defenders of the Last City, we should go and see the Vanguards. I think that was what we needed to do next."

"It was." Weiss agreed. The four of them headed away from the notice board in the Plaza, heading down into the Hall of Guardians. They passed by Lord Shaxx, who was talking to a team of Guardians and handing out things, and entered the main hall, where the Vanguard stood around a table. All of them were busy with a Guardian or two.

"…Activity in India." Cayde was saying. "Multiple Fallen signals. Something big is going on down there, and we want to know what it is. Scout them out, kill anything or anyone who looks important. There's Legendary Vanguard Special weapons for you guys when you come back." He turned to another Guardian. A Hunter. "The Hive have taken up base in an Egyptian pyramid, ironically. The Cryptarch wants someone to go down there and kick them out. Mostly because it's had dead kings in it, and this is apparently disrespectful. You'll get a cloak for your trouble." The Hunter nodded, and joined the others in leaving. That finally cleared enough space for Team RWBY to approach. "Ah good, just the kids I was looking for. Since you're now official, here's what's going to happen. We'll start you guys off in your teams, with a single Guardian babysitting you. He or she will show you the ropes, teach you the basics, and help bail you out if you get in over your heads. Listen to them, because they know more about this place than you do. After some time like that, if we think you're ready, we'll split you up into teams of two. And then you can go without a babysitter. But you _will_ need to be in teams. The more people with you, the easier things get."

Ruby nodded. "Could we maybe get Titan Ti'ana as our guide? Or Katie, or Bianca?"

"Sorry kid. Fireteam Tramon is out in the field, catching up with everyone else. Light levels increased and new gear was released while they were gone; they have to play catch up. You'll be assigned to Warlock Solas, of Fireteam Conman. He's been around the bush a few times, and he's also helped kill a Hive god. He's got enough experience to look after you." Ruby looked downcast. "He's waiting for you in the Plaza; try not to keep him waiting."

"Yes sir." Weiss replied. They headed back the way they came, tapping away at their scrolls. They had been upgraded again when they gained their new armour, acting more like Ghosts now than before. One upgrade that was useful was that their HUD could show names over peoples' heads. Since Guardians tended to change their entire look at times, it could be hard to find people you knew; as such, they were logged into a system, and their names were linked to their person. They found Solas standing in the grassy area, still dressed in the same clothes he had on when they first met him.

"Team RWBY, reporting for duty sir." Ruby called out when they were close enough, marching stiffly and saluting him. It was hard to tell his expression behind the featureless black glass.

"About time you showed up." He replied. "We need to check some things before we head on out. First off, helmets. Put them and check they're working."

"Is this really necessary?" Weiss asked. "Do many enemies use poison?"

"Not really. But it's better to check if the seals are working when you're in safe territory rather than find out in the field. So, helmets on." They complied, pulling their helmets from under their arms and placing them on their heads, locking them with a twist. Ruby's helmet was fitted with a curved pane across the eyes, and two rebreather valves at mouth level. Weiss wore a green helmet with spines on top, a plate of glass cut apart by lines so it resembled a kind of V shape. Blake's helmet had a featureless front, marred only by a plate that covered the mouth area. On the top though were two intake-looking bits, places where her ears could fit. And Yang had a curved helmet with a large spike attached to the front, like a unicorn. Solas had his Ghost scan their helmets, ensuring everything was working perfectly. He nodded, apparently happy with the answers. "Secondary weapons?" He asked.

Weiss fingered the shotgun stock sticking up from behind her back. "Check."

"Ammo?"

"Check." Yang replied.

"Quest log?"

"Uhh… Check. Check." Ruby said hurriedly, checking her Scroll. There, on the front, was a brand new quest from the Vanguard. Something about completing patrol missions.

"Good." He replied, nodding. "Then follow me."

* * *

"So, where are we going anyway?" Yang asked, Solas' ship flying away from the Last City. They were all crammed in the back of the ship, Solas at the wheel. Ruby was really hoping that one day she'd get her own spaceship. And she'd learn how to fly it too.

"We've been assigned to the Oasis of Union, located in the Fractured States of America." His Ghost said, his voice beamed straight through their helmets. "There's been an increase in Fallen activity there, and they want us to investigate once you've been tested in the field."

"Tested? We've run around in Remnant's forests, kicking monster butt. The Hive weren't much harder; just more numerous. How bad could the Fallen be?"

"They've nearly invaded the Last City twice now." Solas said. "A good rule out on the field; _never_ underestimate your opponents."

"What exactly _is_ the Oasis?" Weiss asked, analytical as always.

"The Oasis of Union was a remnant of the days before the Collapse. Or perhaps a rediscovering." His Ghost explained. "While warlords and tribes were warring and fighting over land, supplies, and scavenged technology, several groups had the idea of unifying and working together, sharing their resources and discoveries with each other. They all moved to a different area, a place originally known as Washington DC. It had been the capital of America before the Collapse, making it a bit of a symbol. Eventually, the Union Kingdom met with other kingdoms, and worked with newly forged Guardians to start creating the Last City. So they could be seen as the forebears of our home, and therefore our continued survival."

"They took as much as they could when they moved to the City, but there's still a lot of stuff buried in the rubble." Solas took over. "That makes this place a hotspot for Fallen. There's a lot to do around here, and plenty of targets to shoot." The ship dipped down, and came to a halt. "And here's our stop. Beaming you girls down in three… two… one…"

The world flashed brightly, and then they landed on the ground, ducking slightly from the momentum. They all pulled their weapons out, ready for a fight. But instead of battle, there was just… quietness.

That, and the visage of a ruined city.

It was immediately clear that the place had once been beautiful. A thriving work of art signifying the height of the Golden Age. Crystal-like skyscrapers with white curved frames rose up to the sky like feathers. An ornate fountain sat nearby, water likely shooting from the arms of angels. But it was also immediately clear that it had been ravaged. The road before them was blocked by a fallen skyscraper, the windows shattered and the frame deformed. The fountain was cracked wide open, the angels lying in pieces. Burnt out cars littered the road, and flickering signs lit up the streets. It was a testament to the horrors of the Collapse.

Solas landed in the middle of their group, a spiked hand cannon in his grip. "Alright team RWBY. Activate your scanners and see if there are any beacons nearby. Let me know what you see."

"How are they represented on our HUDs?" Blake asked.

"They appear as grey diamonds. Your radars already have them logged in, so you can spot them even through walls. Really useful is an urban jungle like this." Ruby tapped the scroll resting on her belt, and her HUD flickered slightly. There were now four diamonds on screen.

"We've got… Two triangles; a diamond with triangles around it; and a compass." She said aloud, taking note of the symbols she saw. The Vanguard never actually covered what those meant, focusing more on teaching them about their enemies instead.

"Two salvages, one kill, and a scout mission. That's a good start. We'll leave the scout for last, and focus on the others. You guys are a team, so you work together on each mission. We'll grab the kill mission first; it's the closest one." He started running, gliding over the mangled beam and running through the shattered building, Team RWBY close behind. They exited the other side to find a small group of Fallen patrolling around. Dregs, Shanks, and Vandals. Leading the pack was a Captain. They hadn't seemed to notice them yet.

Then Solas killed a Vandal with a bullet to the head.

"Scatter and engage!" Ruby called out, charging in and unfolding her scythe. The Fallen stopped for a second, long enough for her to slash through them. The Dregs fell with ease, body parts littering the ground until she reached the captain. He blocked her strike with his arm, his shield flickering like a blue aura. He pushed her away, and then Weiss struck him with lightning-charged attacks. His barrier fell, and his body blackened from the lightning.

In a manner of seconds, the patrol lay dead. Blake and Yang stood looking a little silly, joining the fight after it was already over. Solas was still standing where he started, his head tilted.

"That's it?" Yang asked, disappointed. "That wasn't so tough. Hard to believe you guys haven't kicked them off yet."

"You killed one patrol. Out of thousands just in the Oasis." Solas said coldly. "And that's not including the Fallen in the bases, guarding relics, on their Ketches, or even just waiting in orbit to replace the dead. They are a never-ending stream, always finding more of their kind to take their place. And we haven't even faced a single Major or Elite." He stepped closer to Yang. "Either you take things seriously, or you'll end up dead." And with that, he turned away, stomping towards the nearest patrol beacon. Chastised, Team RWBY followed him.

They encountered two more patrols before they reached the beacon, Solas silent as he killed them one by one. Those he shot started shriveling up, a green mist eating away at them. He waited for them to crowd around the beacon before he touched it, the antenna pulsing and sliding away.

"These dark creatures stand between our people, and the stars." An ominous voice played from the beacon. "Dead Orbit will pay for their elimination." A small diamond appeared in their HUD, empty and with a percentage next to it.

Ruby tilted her head. "Who's Dead Orbit?" She asked Solas.

"One of the factions. And thus people you don't need to concern yourself with." He replied. "We'll spread out in teams of two; I'll go on my own. Kill any enemy you see, and you'll see the diamond filling up." He pointed away from them, towards a small stubby pillar before a drained pool. "We'll meet up at the monument once we're done. Move out." And he turned away, heading further into the city and gliding up to a broken window.

Yang rubbed the back of her head. "That… did _not_ come out right." She said awkwardly.

"You _did_ pretty much say that you think they're not tough enough to deal with their enemies." Blake noted. "These people have been fighting for centuries now. This is going to be _much_ harder than it looks."

"Well, we should proceed with our mission." Weiss said firmly. "Ruby and I will explore West. You two can explore East." She turned and walked away, only to turn back as she realized she went in the wrong direction. Ruby giggled before following her, Crescent Rose at the ready.

* * *

They killed plenty of Fallen, shredding them apart with bladed weapons and explosive shots. The diamond filled up completely, rewarding them with Glimmer, experience, and Vanguard reputation (a key thing for gaining newer and better gear, they were told). From there, Solas had them go for the salvage mission, where the Vanguard wanted them to recover some anti-gravity thingies. That was simple too; all they had to do was find Shanks, and slice them open like piñatas. Then it was off to do some scouting; which was… go somewhere and stare at the world.

Their scouting mission led them elsewhere, to the other side of the Monument, past the rest of it lying scorched and battered at the bottom of the pool. They picked up a scan mission, where they had to find some really old tech, and use their scrolls to scan it for the City. Along the way, they killed so many Fallen. Ruby thought they had finished them off, but then more would turn the corner. It really _did_ seem like there were thousands out there.

And now they were on their final mission. The beacon sat with a star symbol inside a circle over it. A kill mission. And according to Solas, these were the higher level missions.

"There's a Captain out in your area prepping to go and blow up what's left of the White House. That's where America's leader lived in the old days." Cayde explained. "I know it's a dump right now, but it's still ours. Kick his ass real good." An arrow appeared on their mini map, pointing off towards the city again. No, a little bit off from it.

"Let's move out team." Ruby called out, already running towards the arrow. Weiss shook her head, before following close behind. The arrow led them towards a squat building, several rusted cars sitting around it. It looked like it had been a gas station at some point. Solas made them stop, and then pointed three of them to the left side. Yang, Blake, and Ruby all headed away; Weiss and Solas kept to their current path. Along their trip, they found several bike-shaped machines resting in an open field. They had the same bug-like look to them that all the Fallen stuff has, with a long tail sticking out the back and spikes covering them. Sneaking past them, the three of them peeked around the corner. There, right before them, was a large squad of Fallen troops. At least a dozen Dregs, seven Vandals, and three Servitors floating around. And in the middle of it all was their target. A Fallen Captain. And her HUD showed a yellow bar over its head. Thankfully, the Captain was the only one with it. Peeking round the other corner was Solas' helmet feathers, glinting slightly.

Her comms crackled. "I'll launch the first strike. While they're in disarray, take out as many targets as you can. We'll go for the Captain once we've thinned them out a bit." Solas instructed.

"Got it." They replied at once. One of the nearby Dregs looked up at their general direction, but then did a double take. As it started creeping towards them, Solas ran out from the other side and jumped into the air. At the apex of his jump, his whole body glowed purple, and he threw three orbs at the Fallen. Where they impacted, the world seemed to explode. Fallen were tossed aside and vanished, before exploding again and affecting anyone near them. The Captain roared and raised his weapon to the sky, the surviving Fallen rushing towards Solas.

"Let's move Team RWBY!" She shouted, charging in with her scythe ready. She cleaved through a Vandal and a Dreg standing nearby, blood spraying everywhere. Weiss floated out from cover and ran a Dreg through, and then unleashed a blitz of Dust blasts around herself. Blake ran into the fight, two Vandals charging to meet her with electric blades. One slashed at her, and she appeared over him as the blade went through her illusion. She kicked out at his head and jumped off another illusion, slicing his head off and kicking it at the other Vandal. It bounced off, knocking him silly and allowing her to attach her ribbon and throw Gambol Shroud like a yo-yo. Yang was charging through, using the momentum from her punches to scatter Fallen like bowling pins. She flew towards a Servitor, her fist impacting against its eye as she hit… And then cracks started spreading around its shell as she flew away again. And Solas was tossing a grenade, little energy balls floating towards enemies while he fired off his Hand Cannon.

Ruby's momentum took her towards the Captain. It glared at her with hate-filled eyes, and roared again, firing his gun at her. She used her Semblance to appear above it, spinning so she could slam her scythe into it. But to her surprise, it managed to grab her weapon by the handle, the blade quivering over his head. He spun around and around until she lost her grip, flying away. She managed to land mostly on her feet, but she looked up to see the Captain holding onto her scythe like it was his own.

In his _other_ two hands – the ones she completely forgot about – he pointed his weapon at her.

"Ruby! Look out!" Yang yelled, skidding in front of her and taking the shot instead. Ruby ran for cover, pulling out her spare rifle as she ran. She pointed it at the Captain and pulled the trigger, the rifle spewing bullets and disrupting her aim. The Captain swung her scythe at Yang, trying to cleave her apart. Blake jumped onto his back, firing her gun at point blank range. It roared in fury and teleported, appearing next to the station wall and slamming itself against it. Blake rolled over it just in time, and used both parts of Shroud to slice at him. He fired his rifle at his feet, forcing her away. Weiss dashed around it, creating Lightning Runes that surrounded it before opening fire. The Captain slammed Crescent Rose into the ground before ducking, the lightning arcing towards the scythe instead. The Captain lashed out at her, but Weiss dodged his attack, and he ended up getting shocked by her for his troubles. His barrier dropped by quite a bit.

Solas charged into the fight, firing his rocket at the Captain. Crescent Rose went flying from the force of the explosion, while the Captain stumbled. Yang and Blake moved in, slashing at him while Ruby fired at him, yelling. Solas backed away, pulling out a sniper rifle from his back. He crouched down, waiting for the right moment… And then he fired, the Captain's head vanishing into mist. A white vapor rose from his neck, and he fell to the ground. The whole area went silent again, the fighting now over.

Ruby lowered her rifle, feeling embarrassed. Oh, she was going to be in trouble for losing her weapon. If they hadn't been lucky, they would've probably been injured by Crescent. Solas was probably going to chew her out for doing something so stupid. And indeed, he was standing before her, his expression hidden behind the black glass. But he was probably annoyed.

Ruby rubbed the back of her helmet awkwardly. "You don't have to say it; I screwed up. I'm _really_ sorry about that."

"And you should be." Solas said. "You were _very_ lucky that didn't turn out worse than it had." Here it comes; here comes the scolding and lecturing. "But that's _why_ we're out here."

Wait, what? "Huh?" She replied stupidly.

"The Vanguard knew you guys would make mistakes, and unlike Guardians you can't revive if you screw up. That's why you were assigned to me; so I can bail you out if or when something like this happens. And then you learn from them. But something you really need to remember is that we are waging a war against _intelligent_ enemies. They can plan, and strategize, and improvise. You need to think when fighting them." He turned away, his Ghost appearing in the palm of his hand. Team RWBY grouped up around Ruby.

"I thought he was about to tear you to pieces." Yang said to her.

"So did I." Ruby replied. "But I guess he's got a point. Fighting the Fallen and the Vex and the Hive and the Cabal… It's not like fighting the Grimm. It's more like… fighting against Torchwick. Or that Faunus guy. Or those gang members."

"If I recall correctly, we didn't do so well the last time." Weiss remarked.

"We're tougher now. And smarter." Yang said.

"Well, better get ready to hit the road again." Ruby said, approaching Crescent Rose, still sticking out of the ground. She reached out for it, ready to pull it free.

"Uh, Ruby?" Weiss said. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea. It might still be…" Ruby's hand wrapped around the handle, and she was suddenly hit by a powerful charge of lightning. She jittered in the air and made a strange sound, before being blasted backwards. "…Electrified."

"…Owie." Ruby squeaked. When she got up again, she gently and carefully approached Crescent, until she was close enough to poke it with a finger. When nothing happened, she started tugging on Crescent.

"Team RWBY." Solas called out. "Quit fooling around over there. Cayde wants to talk to you girls." Ruby, nearly bending Crescent into an arc shape, crashed to the ground as her finger slipped. Giving up on it for the time being, she appeared next to Solas, the rest of her team just behind her. Solas' Ghost separated into bits, all floating around the eye.

"Well done kiddos. Solas told me that you completed the basics with only _minor_ problems." Cayde's voice projected from the Ghost. "Now here comes the tricky part. Part of the reason we sent you out this way is because we picked up some activity in the Oasis that we're concerned about. There's been Fallen chatter around an old military installation formerly known as the Pentagon. Used to be considered the heart of the US Defence. We had a look at an old list of inventory, and we've found that there were missile silos built around it around 2047. And there are a few that are still sleeping in their bays. One of those missiles could do a lot of damage to the City, and the chatter so far suggests that the Fallen are trying to gain access to them. Your mission is simple; get in the Pentagon, kill the Fallen, and find some way to disable the missiles. This is classified as a Strike mission, and so it's all voluntary. You can leave it to someone else… if you're fine with everyone thinking that you're just a bunch of kids playing dress-up."

"We accept." Ruby said quickly. "Right?" She looked at her teammates, realising that she should've asked them first.

"Sure we are. I wanna kick some more alien butt." Yang replied, slamming her fists together.

"The Fallen could get them working before another team arrives. We can't just ignore a threat like that." Blake noted with concern.

"We need to show we are willing to take on risks and fight." Weiss said.

"Good. Just remember; there's no shame in running for cover and letting Solas become a target. Without a Ghost, your safety is more important than his. Get moving team." The Ghost folded back up.

"So… Where _is_ this Pentagon?" Blake asked.

"It's some distance from us. There's at least a river between us and them. Luckily, we've got enough transport for all of us." Solas looked at the bikes, untouched by the battle.

"…Dibs on the front one." Yang called out.

* * *

Their ride on the Pikes led them through a venerable jungle of carnage. Every street they passed through showed more and more signs of disrepair and devastation, with buildings clogging the streets of ending at a scorched stump. In some places the ground was blackened, and large craters swallowed whole streets. When they reached the bridge, they found it shattered. Clumps of it stuck out of the water like ribs. Crashed ships were clumped around them. Turning away, they crossed a more complete bridge, reaching the other side.

It was almost completely different from the city side. While there were still signs of damage, still craters in the area, much of it was cleaner. In a sense. Trees were growing wildly, snaking up nearby buildings and coating them in greenery. They passed by a squatter building, tattered cloth covering the windows. Signs of a city center, and of life itself, stood around a still working fountain. This must have been where the survivors had lived, back when they were known as the Union Kingdom. It was beautiful and yet sad. A testament to their ability to survive… and a sign of all they had lost.

Solas slowed down, hold his hand up in a fist. "There it is. The Pentagon." He pointed at a massive building before them, a wall of construction. Like all the other buildings, this too had been ravaged. One distant wall had fallen into rubble, and the field before them was carved up by craters both big and small. "We'll enter through that opening there. Your nav units will guide you to our destination."

"You might want to keep an eye on each other." His Ghost said. "Surviving records state that the Pentagon was designed so that one could get anywhere as fast as possible. Hence, it's a maze in there. You could go up a story without even realising it."

"Well I doubt the City's going to mind if we _make_ a doorway." Yang said, cocking Ember Celica.

"Move out. And keep everyone notified if you see anything." Solas said, riding off again. Team RWBY followed him, their Pikes going up and down the craters. As they approached the broken wall, they spotted at least five Dregs standing around. Solas pulled on something, and his Pike started firing plasma at them. The Dregs had time to screech and turn before he was upon them, killing them all. They pulled to a halt and started making their way inside, jumping to an empty doorway and walking through it with their weapons drawn. At the other end they found themselves walking on a floor suspended over open air. Below them were more Fallen, who screeched in their language as they spotted the humans.

Team RWBY followed Solas down below, ready for a fight.

And so it went, through the building's winding hallways and confusing directions. They would find a group of Fallen, then they would fight. They would progress to the next room, and they would fight. And every step of the way, their supply of Dust and their Auras were getting lower and lower. After they had to defend a Fallen device operating a heavy door, Solas had them take a break to eat some food, and replenish their Aura. After spending a few minutes trying to rest, Solas had them continue.

Their path led them outside, into the open middle of the building. The five walls surround them resembled a pentagon, explaining why the name was chosen. And smack dab in the center of it all was a large bulbous machine.

"Great. A Walker. I _thought_ things had been too easy." The Ghost remarked sarcastically. The machine folded out six stubby legs, red lights shining brightly. Pincers clasped at the air before the head, and panels opened on the back, Shanks flying out of them. But most worryingly was the giant barrel attached to the back. And milling around it were more Fallen.

"Focus on the troops first. Keep something between you and the Walker at all times. And if you see a red light, start running." And he took off, firing shots from his sniper rifle at the tank. The Walker turned towards his position, a Gatling gun under its mouth firing rapidly. Team RWBY all ran for different points of cover, using their Dust and guns to kill any Fallen nearby. They could see the Walker spread its legs, a red beam lighting up from the cannon. Solas moved, just before the cannon fired. It missed him, but the sheer power would've likely killed him if it had hit.

"Once you've taken out enough of the troops, concentrate on the Walker." The Ghost instructed them over the comms. "The easiest way to damage it is through its legs. Deal enough damage to cripple that leg, and it'll go into a repair mode. During that time, its main core is exposed. Unleash everything you have on the core while it's down."

"Got it." Ruby replied. "Let's try a hit-and-run maneuver." Team RWBY dashed out from behind cover, using their speed and agility to avoid incoming attacks and tear through the Fallen. Once they had whittled them down, they moved closer to the Walker, Ruby sniping at a leg as she approached. As they got closer, its close left leg suddenly exploded into sparks, and it collapsed onto the ground. Just as they were told, its head opened up enough to expose a glowing, superheated core.

According to their HUD, it had lost a quarter of health.

"Fire!" Ruby shouted, slotting in a higher grade of Dust and blasting at the core. Weiss used her Semblance to carve boulders from the ground, slamming them into the core. Blake just fired quickly, and Yang used her explosive shots to deal damage. The Walker's health bar decreased rapidly, reaching halfway. But then the Walker started up again, a film of electricity playing over it. The head closed over the core, and it stood back up again. It must've repaired the leg enough for it to support its weight. And then it turned towards Team RWBY, the _second_ cannon glowing blue. "Run!" They scattered as it fired Arc blasts at them, the ground exploding on impact. Yang, ever the blood knight, charged forward, slamming her fists against another leg. It started glowing with Arc energy, and then slammed its belly against the ground. Yang was thrown bodily back, and slammed into a pillar.

"Make sure to move when it glows. It has a strong defense against close combat." Solas said. Biting her lip, Ruby decided that the best thing to do is to deal as much damage to the legs without getting squashed. So she used her Semblance to get in close, slashing with Crescent over and over. The plating on the legs before her both exploded outwards, and she rolled to avoid the Walker falling on her. She turned to see Fallen troops streaming out from doorways, ready to engage her team. She charged in to fight them, leaving the Walker for Solas. The four of them cleared out most of them, just as they heard a strange noise. Turning back, they saw the Walker stumbling as parts of it exploded, before it collapsed in a heap. Several Engrams rolled out of the carnage.

Her team stood near her, panting with exertion. "_Please_ tell me that the main target is near." Weiss said, kneeling down and with Myrtenaster stabbed into the ground.

"You're in luck; the control room is not much farther." The Ghost said. "Of course, there's still the fact that we have to _kill_ it and disable the missiles."

"You'll have to learn how to manage your resources better." Solas said. "You'll get some time to rest after this. But right now, we need to hurry."

"Gotcha." Yang replied, standing up again. The five of them hurried through the far door, taking a winding hallway further up. And found themselves peering into a large room, a damaged screen at the other end showing the Oasis. Most of the far wall and the roof had been blown away, sunlight streaming down at them. And before the monitor was a giant Servitor, easily twice as big as the ones they faced before.

"There it is. Nexis Prime." The Ghost said. "Our target."

"Move in to engage in three… two… one…" He ran into the room, firing his Hand Cannon as he ran. Immediately, the Servitor stopped what it was doing and turned to face them. Solas switched out for his Sniper Rifle, pinging it right in the eye. It glowed purple, and then vanished. "Above you!" He called out, turning around. They looked up to see it hovering over them, eye crackling with energy. Its plating separated, and it seemed to draw some kind of energy into itself. They ran away, blasting as they went. It folded the panels back in place, and started firing explosive blasts at them.

"Weiss, Ice Flower!" Ruby called out, skidding to a halt. Weiss moved beside her, a glyph already forming in front of Crescent. Ruby fired several blasts, icicles forming over Nexis. It shook itself wildly, spraying ice everywhere, but it was definitely slowing down. Yang jumped off the walls and slammed into its eye, a fiery explosion knocking it away. It teleported elsewhere, and yet _more_ Fallen streamed in. Groaning, they moved to kill them, a rocket from Solas impacting against Nexis. He helped clear them out, ducking behind cover to avoid Nexis' eye blasts. Only once they had thinned the herd did they go for him again.

Against all reasonable thought, Yang charged in again, fist at the ready. She grabbed hold of the Servitor's face, slamming her fist against its eye again and again. It started draining her energy, Ruby's HUD showing her Aura getting dangerously low. But then Yang yelled in anger, and slammed her fist one final time.

Nexis was blown away, crashing into walls and the roof and the floor. When it stopped, there were cracks everywhere, and panels were falling off it. The remaining four of them fired everything they had at it, and with a loud scream, it exploded. As soon as it was dead, Ruby ran for her sister. Miraculously, Yang looked only _moderately_ worse for the wear.

"That… Was one… tough nerd…" She panted, lying on the ground. Ruby helped her to her feet, something made easier by Blake's help. Solas was standing at the console, his Ghost at work.

Ruby smiled. "You always did have to take the craziest actions."

"Hey, it worked. It's only crazy if it kills me." They carried her towards Solas, Yang mostly moving by herself.

He turned to look at them. "That was very risky of you. And dangerous. But since it worked, I'm not complaining." He turned back to the monitor. "We were lucky. Nexis had nearly cracked the system when we got there."

"Just gotten the inventory." His Ghost said. "There are four missiles still active in the silos. And they're still in reasonable working order. Enough to reach the City. Now we just need to…" He stopped. "Picking up Warp energy signatures. Something coming, and its big."

The sky above them was suddenly rent, and a Ketch appeared out of nowhere. The building shook from the shockwave of its arrival, and Skiffs started flying out of it. And they were all heading towards them.

"Dammit." Solas cursed. "Reinforcements."

Team RWBY groaned. "We can't survive against that many." Weiss said. "We've barely got the energy to keep going."

"Well we can't just leave. They'll get another Servitor hacking the database. We _need_ to deal with these missiles." His Ghost retorted.

"I have an idea." Yang said. "Can we direct them from here?"

"Of course. This is the control room. Golden Age humans could've directed dozens of missiles from up here."

"Well, can't we direct them at that Ketch?" Solas and his Ghost looked at each other, before the Ghost started banging against the monitor.

"That's actually a great idea. Sparks, load in the coordinates." Solas said.

"Loading. This will only take a moment." On screen, they saw four grassy areas opening up, metal grinding as they went. Gleaming pointed noses poked out of the ground, ready to go. "Target acquired… all systems ready… And firing." The ground shook as smoke billowed from the holes, missiles flying into the air. Four wings folded out as they rose into the air, and then they turned enough to point at the Ketch. It tried to turn away, but the missiles were too quick. They impacted with massive force, fire billowing and metal exploding. The Ketch was blown into pieces, separating into fragments that fell onto the world below. The Skiffs flew away, obviously frightened by the loss of their ship.

As Team RWBY cheered, their Scrolls started blinking. "Not bad kiddos. That was pretty inspiring. Makes me wish I was actually down there with you seeing that personally." Cayde said, sounding pleased. "Now that they can't use our own weapons against us, report back to the Tower for some rest… and to get some nice loot."

"Good job, Kinder-Guardians."

* * *

**Blarg. Glad to have finished that chapter. Like I said, it's late over here.**

**I chose Washington because I wanted to have missions outside of Russia, to show off more of the world Destiny lives in. And I thought that a Strike in the Pentagon was a great idea. Those missiles (which may or may not already be at the Pentagon – I don't know, I'm not American) would be a good reason to kill the Fallen there. It turned out a bit too much like the Devil's Lair strike, but I'm tired, and it seemed like a standard Fallen tactic.**

**Now, something I decided to do was to have the higher level enemies be smarter and more dangerous, so that RWBY doesn't just steamroll over them. They can with skill and tactics, but rushing in blindly is going to get them killed. As shown here. And while their Aura is impressive, it's a bit like the Exposure modifier; it's greater, but it can't really replenish. They never go into how it replenishes in the show, but I'm thinking resting and eating protein bars or something. So the Huntsmen can't go on as long as a Guardian could. A way to balance things out a bit.**

**Don't worry. They can still do Strikes and stuff. They just need to be careful to ration their Dust and Auras.**

**So yeah, that's all I can think of. See you next chapter guys.**


	14. Operation KACA (Kick All Cabal Asses)

**I said I'd make the next chapter soon, and I have actually done so.**

**Yeah. I'm amazed too.**

**As you can tell from the name, this is going to be all about one mission. One strike-class mission involving my Guardians. There's going to be butt-kicking, awesome powers, and great use of the environment. I had fun coming up with actiony pieces for this.**

**As always, other parts had be dragged kicking and screaming onto paper.**

**But enough from me. Let's get into the action so you can see what happens.**

* * *

**Chapter 14: Operation KACA (Kick All Cabal Asses)**

The Vanguard stood around the table, watching a projection from one of their spy satellites. The projection showed a tall structure sitting on a pillar of rock, tunnels carved into the base. Cabal Harvesters flew around the structure, patrolling the perimeter. As they watched, Vex signatures appeared on the structure. The Cabal troops moved in to assault them. It was a hard fight, but the Cabal managed to successfully hold out against them.

Cayde pushed away from the table. "Well, it's pretty much like what we thought. No one's going anywhere close anytime soon."

"And yet we _have_ to reclaim Beacon Academy." Zavala said sternly. "Not just to show that we're willing to do more than send their students to fight our battles; but because of the potential dangers there are of Cabal getting that portal back online. Remnant soldiers may be tough, but the Cabal are tenacious."

"Agreed. Fortunately, I have an idea on how to reclaim Beacon." Ikora said. "But we're going to need a specific team for this. One that knows Beacon better than the rest of us."

"You're talking about Fireteam Tramon." Zavala said. It wasn't a question.

"I am. Do you think they're ready?"

Zavala's Ghost created a projection, a screen showing the current tracked stats of Fireteam Tramon. It listed their current kill/death ratio, how long they've spent in different types of missions, and even their increase of reputation. All in all, the three of them had been hard at work this past week. "We won't know until they've tried. But I've got a good feeling about them."

"Then we should call them in."

* * *

Three hours later, the Vanguard looked up from their maps to see Fireteam Tramon approaching. The three of them marched in as though they were moving in slow motion, three intrepid heroines from some old film from the Golden Age. Bianca was wearing her new Exotic helmet, her chest piece replaced by one of the new Vanguard offerings. Katie now wore a new helm and robe, her head now sporting a large horn fixture, and her robes decorated with winged eagles.

"Guardians. Glad you could take some time out of your schedules to meet us." Cayde said to them. "Bet you're wondering why you're here."

"Because you asked us to?" Bianca replied.

"You've got a mission for us." Ti'ana and Katie said at the same time.

"Right… on both accounts. Zavala, you want to take over?"

The Titan Vanguard nodded. "You'll no-doubt recall that you and the Remnants had to flee Beacon Academy due to encroaching Cabal forces. In the time since then, they've been busy. It's almost certain that they are doing everything they can to uncover any secrets Beacon has to offer. Including the Vex portal. If they somehow manage to get that online, then all of Remnant could be in peril." He pressed a button, and holographs appeared in the air. Four figures, each a class of Cabal, appeared before them. "A full frontal assault would be unfeasible; not against the numbers we're seeing. The best way to kick the Cabal out is to cut off the heads of the expedition. Their Leader, Valus Tor'lac, and his lieutenants. Val Gol'dan, Valus Si'don, and Nimur the Psion Leecher. You'll need to find and eliminate all of them to free Beacon."

Ti'ana leaned in, studying the holograms. "Epic level Centurion, Colossus, Phalanx, and Psion. Tall order. I'm looking forward to it."

"What do we know about them?" Bianca asked, mind on the mission. The holograms moved, one growing larger as the others shrank to the side. The Phalanx, Val Gol'dan, sporting an unusual shield. It was made from a cross frame, energy barriers extending outward like flower petals. According to the scale, he was about ten feet tall.

"Gol'dan must've found something while fighting the Vex." Cayde started expositing. "His shield shares the same technology of the Hydras. Impenetrable to pretty much anything, you're going to need to use a lot of flanking on this one. Fortunately for us though, he's currently competing against Valus Si'don for Tor'lac's praise." Gol'dan's hologram shrank, and brought up Nimur. He was a much smaller beast, just a bit shorter than them. But prior battles with Psions told them that his bite was worse than his bark. He was decorated by bull horns on his helmet, and a long scarf that resembled a beast's tail. "Reports on Nimur are a little sketchy. As far as we can tell, he started off as a regular nobody Psion. Then he somehow unlocked incredible power, and attempted a rebellion. His little army was squashed, and Nimur was taken prisoner and outfitted with a shock collar. Any time he starts acting up, he gets the old shocky shock. But in battle, they just let him run wild. Apparently he's fond of unleashing wave after wave of Arc blasts, or just using his psionic power to charge at an opponent. We saw him dent tank armour that way. But the angrier he gets, the more likely he's just going to keep charging. Use that against him." Next on the list was the Colossus, wearing a lone tattered flag on his back. His minigun was upgraded, featuring three barrels set up in a triangle. Vents were added to the back, and tubes ran all over it. "And this is Si'don, Gol'dan's bitter rival. His gun is every bit as dangerous as it looks, both for us _and_ him. Those scorch marks on his armour? That's from using that time bomb. He spends most of his time being a dick to Gol'dan. Stalking him everywhere, stealing his kills, giving him wedgies… the usual bully stuff. If he spotted Gol'dan about to gain a kill, he'll charge in and take it himself. Or stop Gol'dan from getting it. See if you can lure them together or something. Use that hate against him."

Zavala brought up Tor'lac's hologram. "Once you've dealt with them, you're clear to deal with Tor'lac. He's a bit of an oddball among the Centurions, preferring to attack at range." Indeed, he seemed to have a sniper rifle in his hands. "But the strange thing is, according to Cabal reports he's smashed Vex attackers with a melee weapon of some kind. It could be that when he's pushed, he takes the fight to the enemy."

"So if he starts running at you, you might want to move." Cayde added helpfully.

"Take out all four targets, along with any Cabal in our way." Katie summed up. "Got it."

"There's more." Ikora said quickly, before they ran off. "There's one other task we want you to complete for us while you're out in the field." She reached down below the table, pulling out a box. Inside, there were large canisters wrapped in plating. "The Dust you managed to acquire has been _very_ interesting. An unseen expression of the Traveler's Light, and a very mysterious substance. After suffering several explosions and bodily damage though, we feel as though we may have managed to harness them."

"You mean we can use it?" Ti'ana asked excitedly.

"Well, that's the hundred thousand Glimmer question. Is it ready for use? That's what I need you to find out." She started hooking the machines to the Guardians' armour, attaching it to different points. "Your Ghosts can access the circuitry, allowing you to select the differing types. Dust is found in four main elemental types, with other elements derived from mixing them together. That mixing has been part of what's been taking so long. And caused so many explosions."

"So… dying is expected?" Ti'ana asked.

"Most likely, yes. But with the data you give us, it shouldn't be too hard to make it less volatile."

Bianca looked over the bulky equipment strapped to her shoulder. "It's a bit… cumbersome."

"It's a prototype. We want to make sure it works before we try to shrink it down or install it into armour." Ikora explained.

"Hey, I'm fine with it. We get to finally use Dust." Ti'ana said excitedly. "Let's get out there and break some Cabal."

Zavala nodded. "Good luck Guardians. Take them down."

* * *

Their ships passed through Mar's atmosphere, hacked Cabal targeting programs guiding them through the Exclusion areas. Fortunately, those areas were fewer than when they first arrived, the Cabal too busy trying to keep it together to worry about encroaching ships. The red desert flowed beneath them as they flew, a few signs of former greenery still around. When the thin rod of Beacon Academy appeared before them, they halted to a stop. Katie's ship shuddered, flying noticeably slower than the others. It dipped down, thrusters rocketing it back up.

"I think I need to find myself a new ship." Katie said over the comms. "Holiday did her best, but this thing _did_ plow into the ground at a few hundred miles an hour. She said I was lucky it didn't explode on impact."

"We can worry about your ship later." Bianca replied. "Right now, we need to come up with a plan of attack. We can't just fly blindly into this fight; the Cabal will tear us apart in minutes."

"Why not? That's what we always do, isn't it?" Ti'ana asked. "If anything, it should be so much easier now we've got Dust."

"I'm gonna have to agree with Bianca here, Ti. If the Vanguard thought this could be solved so easily, they wouldn't have sought us out." Katie said.

"So we're _not_ going to fly in, drop down from our ships, and then use our guns, Dust and Light to tear these occupiers apart?"

"No." Bianca paused. "Well, not at first. Tyrion, bring up a map of Beacon, and see if you can hack into the Cabal communications."

"I can bring up the map and all detectable forces. Communications will be harder. We'll need to access one of their comm hubs for that." A holographic map appeared before Bianca, right on top of her table. A dozen Harvesters hovered around the landing pad, guns trained outwards for any aggressors.

"Looks pretty busy." Ti'ana noted, Little Light projecting the same map in her ship. "Those Harvesters will have to go; we can't attempt any landing with them blasting holes in our exhausts."

"There's a hub right in the middle." Katie said. "If we could keep the Cabal away long enough to hack it, we would know where our targets are and how many troops they have under them."

"Not much cover though." Bianca said. "We'll need to be careful."

"Screw careful. It's time to be badasses. Let's take some Dust out for a spin." Ti'ana said excitedly.

"Don't even think about…" Bianca started saying.

"Too late, already going for it." Ti'ana's ship peeled away, flying straight towards Beacon.

"Dammit. Ugh, fine. We're moving in. Remember the plan."

"Harvesters, clear the landing pad, hack the hub." Katie listed off. "This isn't Archaeology Bianca. Plans don't have to be complicated." At their top speed, they reached Beacon in scant seconds. The Harvesters fired off all their guns, while three massive cannons the Cabal had installed were charging up to join in. Ti'ana flew left, while Katie and Bianca flew right. Their ships were more manoeuvrable than the Harvesters, allowing them to make passing strikes. Ti'ana used her radar dish to keep track of all attacking ships, marking them out. Two, then three Harvesters exploded, falling from the sky like rocks. Bianca fired off missiles at one of the turrets, dealing significant damage. It started whining and glowing, and any Cabal troops nearby ran for cover. It exploded with force, cracks spreading across the landing zone and debris flying everywhere.

"Uh, guys? My guns have stopped working." Katie said. "Can I get some help? Unless you want me to just ram anything in my way. I could do that."

"Holiday would have a fit if she heard you say that." Ti'ana replied. She spotted Katie flying from the other direction, an Harvester on her tail. Two quick blasts, and it crashed into the side of Beacon, falling down far below. "Seriously; she'd kill you so hard you'd need a minutes to revive yourself."

"Ouch." Katie flew expertly, swatting some Legionnaires with her wing as she passed. "In that case… Dinklebot!" Katie's cannons fired, ripping the tip off another cannon. "…Good timing."

"Well what else were you going to ask me to do?"

"Focus people." Bianca said firmly. "We've still got five Harvesters and two cannons to destroy. And they're starting to wake up." The nearest cannon tilted and twisted, its glowing orange barrel aimed right for Ti'ana. It fired at incredible speed, scorching the air. Ti'ana dodged it with space to spare, and made a pass near the ground it was latched onto. The missiles she fired tore through the ground, making it tilt enough to break off. Two Harvesters chased her, scoring a hit on her backside until Bianca and Katie – now with functioning weapons – blasted their boosters apart.

"Three ships and a cannon. Let's start punching shit." Ti'ana said excitedly, flying down towards the landing zone. The Cabal set up there started shooting back, Ti'ana flying through their fire. Once she was close enough, she was ejected from her ship, flying like an arrow as her ship pulled up. She let out a cheer as she engaged gravity Dust, her body glowing with black energy as she slammed into the ground. The Cabal were sent flying, looking confused as they _stayed_ in the air. Ti'ana stumbled as she stood up. "Ooh. I think that did something to my insides." She groaned.

"You can puke inside your helmet later. We need to kill these Cabal before they realise what happened to them." Ti'ana twisted round, firing off her Scout Rifle as she went. The impact of the bullets sent the Cabal flying away, even if it didn't kill them. One lucky (or rather, _unlucky_) Psion could only panic as it floated out over open air. Ti'ana tossed out a grenade, lightning spewing out and striking…

She gave a dry heave. Don't think about spewing. Don't even mention the word. Taking a deep breath, she ran at a nearby Phalanx, screaming as she jumped and slammed her fist into its face. The Phalanx flew away at speed, crashing into the last turret, but not doing much damage.

"Light, are we ready?" She asked.

"Not yet." He replied. A few blasts struck her back, and she rolled over some crates for cover. She peeked out from behind it, firing at the mass of Legionnaires heading for her. Her grenade charged again, she tossed out another one.

"Now?"

"Almost." As she fired some more bullets, Bianca flew head on towards the last cannon. It fired at her, but she spiralled around its blast as it wasted its shot. It started charging again, just as she hoped it would. As the barrel glowed orange again, she fired a rocket right now it. The Cabal immediately ran for it, just in time for the last cannon to explode in a shower of destruction. "Now!"

"Load some fire!" She shouted, jumping over her cover and charging towards the remaining troops. They fired en masse at her, but she kept running even as her shields dropped. Arms flickering with flames, she jumped into the air, slamming her fists against the ground. A wave of lightning and fire erupted before her tearing the Cabal apart. The gravity effect wore off, and corpses fell to the ground. The afore-mentioned Psion held its hands over its eyes as it fell through the air. When Katie and Bianca dealt with the last of the Harvesters and landed, the landing zone was cleared. And really badly damaged.

"Damn, Ti'ana. You look like hell." Bianca said. Ti'ana's gauntlets were scorched black by the Dust blowback, and she was hunched over like she was in pain.

"That kinda hurt." She said in a pained voice. "Now if you'll excuse me…" Her helmet digitalised, and she bent over to start puking her guts out. "Oh Traveller that felt _really_ bad."

"You went from a hundred miles an hour to nothing in an instant. _And_ your body doesn't like it when gravity changes on you." Light replied. "Both of those tend to cause slight feelings of _nausea_."

"So Ti'ana. How's that Dust going for you?" Bianca said smugly. Ti'ana stumbled over and vomited on her boots. "Oh for the love of…! You could've just told me to fuck off. You didn't have to do _that_." She moaned, shaking the vomit off her boots.

"Ladies and corpses… Our heroines." Katie said, taking a bow. "I've gotten access to their hub. Luckily for your stomach, Ti'ana, they're _mostly_ on this floor. And there's about… oh, twice as many guys as we normally fight in a mission." Ti'ana retched, wiping her mouth and putting her helmet back on. Her gauntlets were blemish free, and she was ready for battle.

"Ok… Being a complete and total badass warrior goddess… Take two." She said, embarrassed. They started running for the dining hall, where Nimur was apparently based with a small squad of soldiers as his bodyguards. According to the data, they had set up their lab in there, probably studying whatever stuff they managed to scavenged. Finding two Phalanxes standing guard, they promptly blew their helmets off with direct headshots. They jumped over their corpses, ran through the hole in the wall the Cabal had made, and let loose with abandon.

Bianca, tapping into the gravity Dust, created circles under her feet and ran along the walls and the roof, firing down on the Cabal as she went. Ti'ana, feeling much better, charged herself with lightning Dust. Her whole body crackled with energy, and her Storm Fists were even stronger. Like the time she had supercharged her Super, only _without_ dying afterwards. She tossed down a Lightning grenade, and thanks to the Dust the arcs blasted even further and stronger, tearing across the room. A stream of Cabal came through a wall – literally – and set up a defensive position, blasting away at them.

"And now, a Warlock's standard approach to testing new equipment." Katie said, slapping the icy-blue cylinder on her chest. She jumped into the air and started glowing purple and ice-blue, tossing out a glowing Nova Bomb. When it impacted, a wave of cold blasted outwards. The Cabal were frozen solid, and then the wave retracted with a loud bang, shattering them into pieces. That was freaking cool.

Pun not intended.

Bianca dropped down from the ceiling. "Target's not here. He must be out scavenging. We'll have to go looking for him."

"Or he's coming back. We've got a lot of targets on approach." Tyrion said. Their mini map was lit up in one sector, and the far wall exploded towards them. They jumped away, just as a Psion appeared in their midst. They were blown back by the energy, crashing into shattered tables and pillars. Nimur howled in anger, tougher looking Cabal streaming in.

"Deal with the adds first, team!" Bianca called out, jumping off the table she landed on. She fired a rocket into the cluster, but there were more coming in. Ti'ana and Katie were a bit slower to get up, but they were joining in on the fighting quickly. Swapping Advice for a Rocket Launcher, Ti'ana didn't bother firing a rocket. She simply transformed it into a hammer, and smashed the closest Legionnaire into the others, scattering them like bowling pins. She then folded it back up, collected some Heavy ammo, and started firing at Nimur. The Psion fired back with a grenade launcher, and unleashed a blast wave of Solar energy. Katie tossed out a grenade, the blast freezing Cabal troops. When her bullets struck their iced areas, they shattered, leaving them to bleed out. With their numbers thinned out, the Guardians could focus on Nimur. A good thing too; he was tougher than most Psions.

"Taste lightning, shrimp!" Ti'ana cried out, jumping into the air and activating her Super. Nimur jumped back, but a pillar of air rose from where she struck, pulling him in along with debris. "Also air. Taste air. It's painful."

"'Taste air, it's painful'? _That's_ the best you can come up with?" Bianca asked her, tossing a grenade into the maelstrom. Due to the ill-defined rules of Light, they weren't being affected by the wind. Not unless they wanted to.

"Shut up." Ti'ana rubbed her arms. "I didn't know that I somehow had wind Dust loaded." They were then surprised as a flaming blast spiralled out of the tornado, slamming into the ground and causing floor tiles to explode outwards. Nimur got up from there, fire blazing, and roared. He charged forward again, crashing into Ti'ana and sending her into the far wall.

"Run for it?" Katie asked, already sprinting away. She jumped and glided, just avoiding getting smashed by Nimur as he ploughed into the broken stack of tables. He burst free, roared again, and charged for Bianca this time. The Hunter rolled away, getting scorched by his close passing, as he blasted through the wall.

Her Super meter ticked over, filling up golden. Just as another wave of Cabal troops ran in.

"Time to see what this Dust can do for my Gun." She said to herself, firing at Nimur. Already enraged, the Psion took the bait, blasting back at her. She jumped away, but he still managed to blow her back by his impact, knocking her shields to the red. The troops ran around him, guns at the ready. She rolled back onto her feet, her hands glowing with fire and her Golden Gun forming. She didn't bother with witty one liners, or insults, or any kind of phrases. She just fired, right at Nimur.

The lone bullet practically _erupted_ from her weapon; a massive fireball with spiralling flames. It scorched and melted the Cabal troops, burning them away to nothing. Nimur was hit dead on, vanishing into ash. The bullet just kept going, smashing through the far doors and lighting the corridor up, before exploding in both directions. All the soldiers were dead.

But Bianca didn't really notice that. She was too busy burning to death.

She opened her eyes to find herself floating, Katie standing before her and a pile of ash below her. "Ow." She groaned, her voice synthesised.

"Yikes. That fire Dust did _not_ agree with you." Katie said with concern.

"I noticed. But at least Nimur is…" A grumbling sound. They both turned to see Nimur trying to stand up. Very badly scorched, very badly injured. But definitely alive. "Oh, come the _fuck_ on. That was a direct shot."

"Just a sliver left." Katie replied, aiming her rifle. But then Ti'ana came charging in, yelling as she hefted a hammer over her head. She jumped into the air, and brought it down on Nimur. There was a crunching sound. A wet, juicy crunching sound. "And _now_ he's dead."

"Great." Bianca resurrected herself, her body free of aches and pains. "One down, three to go. Katie, you know where the closest target is?"

"I can find out. But I already know who we're going for next. Gol'dan and Si'don. Tor'lac won't come out until he's got no choice. Why waste time dealing with intruders when your subordinates can do it? Corporals? Lieutenants? I don't know their rank position." Dinklebot projected a map of Beacon again. Two markers appeared, one in the classrooms, and one in the arena. "From our translations, we _think_ that Gol'dan is the one in the arena. Apparently he won a fight, and ownership of the arena. Si'don's busy sulking elsewhere."

"A big circular room with hardly any cover. The next fight's going to be tricky." Bianca noted. "Ti'ana, go get Si'don. Lure him to the arena. Be your normal annoying self."

"You say annoying, I say amazing." Ti'ana replied, striking a little pose. "But I get what you mean. Try not to die before I get back to you guys." She started running out through a giant hole, heading in the direction of the classrooms. Katie and Bianca headed down the corridor, towards their own target.

Time for the semi-finals.

* * *

Bianca jumped over the ravaged seats, the ones behind her exploding as Gol'dan shot them with his cannon arm. The giant Phalanx had signs of extensive refitting; half of his visible body was mechanical, and his weapon and shield had been bolted onto his arms. It meant that he could ignore blasts that didn't impact against actual flesh. Twisting as she jumped again, she fired her Hand Cannon multiple times, spending the magazine before falling again. As she slid behind other seats, she quickly reloaded and switched for her sniper rifle.

The sound of heavy fire filled the air. Katie had found an area just perfect for a turret to be warped in. And she was putting it to good use. Bianca peeked over the seats to see Gol'dan lumbering towards her, his shield blocking her bullets. His head was in good profile. She rested her rifle on the seat before her, and blasted his head. The first and second rounds were critical hits, the yellow numbers floating in her HUD, but the third round only hit his shoulder. And the fourth round went over his head as he ducked. He kept his shield facing Katie and twisted his cannon towards Bianca; she got up and ran away as he tore through more seating.

At this rate, she was going to have to move to ground level.

_What's taking Ti'ana so long?_ She wondered as she jumped over open air, the seating before her already destroyed. They had been fighting for five minutes now, and there had been no contact with Ti'ana. No sign that she was on her way. And Gol'dan was getting more cautious with every bullet. He knew their strategy better and better, and was adapting. Soon, it'll be a battle of attrition; to see who tired out first and made a mistake.

"…Your girlfriend slept with other men!" Ti'ana's voice started off faint, growing louder and louder as she got closer. She skidded around the corner and ran into the arena. Behind her, the hallway was torn up by a hail of bullets, followed by loud bellowing. "Your friends insulted you behind your back! Your mom never liked your baking!"

"I don't think he understands your 'brilliant' insults." Little Light said to her.

"I'm running out of material. And he understands enough to want to chase…" She yelped as the Dust mechanic sparked, and her legs started glowing green. Blasts of wind billowed beneath her feet, rocketing her into the air and towards Gol'dan. He smacked her out of the air, sending her crashing to the ground. Ti'ana laid there, groaning, as he lined up his cannon right at her head.

Thousands of bullets slammed into Gol'dan, tearing into his armour plating. He bellowed and twisted, slamming his shield down before him. Si'don stomped his feet, gun smoking. He raised it, and pointed at Ti'ana's position. Gol'dan roared again, and fired his shot first. Si'don's gun went wide, blasting holes into the roof. Ti'ana jumped away, and the two Cabal officers started fighting.

"That's the part I hate about being bait. When they finally catch you." She said, moving over to Bianca's position. "Are we taking part, or do we just sit back and watch them beat the crap out of each other?"

Bianca stood up. "What took you? I thought you would've gotten him here faster than that."

"Hey, he's a big guy. Busting through walls takes time. And he was all mopey and stuff. He didn't even seem to care that I was in there with him. I had to smack him with my axe before he finally acted up." They both were startled as bullets started flying between them, both immediately rolling away for cover. Gol'dan and Si'don were pressed together, grappling for supremacy.

"Screw it. We're joining in. Let's just hope they spend more time fighting each other than working together." The two of them started firing with their primary weapons, landing headshot after headshot. Gol'dan twisted round to fire upon them, but Si'don head-butted him and knocked his cannon wide. Katie fired her turret on the both of them, chipping away at their health. Si'don turned to fire on her, but Gol'dan rebutted with his shield, causing his attack to go high above her head. Just as they hoped, the two forgot about them and started wailing on each other. Gol'dan was coming off worse though; the sustained fire they already laid on him combined with Si'don's blows meant that he had only a sliver of health.

Katie didn't waste any time. Hopping off the turret, she fired a Nova bomb right at him, the Void energy tearing his body apart and damaging Si'don. Gol'dan's shield fell to the ground, its owner now dead. Roaring in triumph, Si'don turned towards her, ready to kill the interlopers. His gun whirled away, shredding the abandoned turret. With his back to them, Bianca flourished her Golden Gun, lining up a shot to his head. It won't be enough to kill him, but it will _definitely_ do a number on him. But then Ti'ana fired off her rocket, and Si'don twisted round to face her, stomping the ground as he turned. The quake upset her stance, and her carefully aimed headshot went wide… Striking his minigun in the casing. A large hole formed on its side, and sparks flew everywhere. The barrels started spinning far too fast, and shreds of metal went flying.

Si'don didn't even have time to run before his gun exploded, tearing apart his chest plating. Blood splattered everywhere, and a heart dropped to the ground. Si'don fell like a tower, the ground shaking as he landed. Ammo landed amongst the engrams like candy from a piñata.

Bianca nodded in satisfaction. "Fill up your ammo reserves ladies. It's time to go hunting for the big one." An alarm sounded, blaring filling the air. A long shout in the Cabal language was broadcasted on all channels.

"It's not much of a hunt. Tor'lac just called us out." Tyrion said. "Made a big grandiose speech about how he would crush our Light and purge our presence from their conquered property. I think we've made him mad."

"Good. Save us looking." Bianca slotted in new ammo, holstering the rest inside of Tyrion. "Let's not keep him waiting. He might get bored and run off."

"Well we don't want _that_. Not after we went through all this trouble just to get his attention." Katie replied.

"Race ya." Ti'ana said, already running out of the arena and down the hall. The other two quickly fell into step behind her, sliding around the corners and catching up. Their race of fun ended though, when a high-velocity round came through the wall, nearly hitting Ti'ana. The three of them quickly rolled and ducked, as more bullets were fired through. They jumped out a broken window, tossing grenades to sow confusion in the ranks. As they ducked behind pillars for cover, they got a good look at Valus Tor'lac.

He was half again bigger than Gol'dan and Si'don, making him almost three times their height. He held an equally large sniper rifle in his hands, and a laser sight roamed the battlefield. He stopped over Bianca's pillar, and fired a shot. She just manged to roll away, and the pillar exploded into pieces. Debris rained around her. He fired it again at Katie's position, and her scream showed that he got his mark. Ti'ana used some fallen rubble to scoot around him. If she could just get behind him and start distracting him, that would give the others time to…

She felt blinding pain as she toppled over, her shield in the red. All feeling from her leg was gone, and when she pressed a hand against it there was nothing but a stump. A single shot cost her a limb. How the hell did he even know she was…?

"Heat vision!" She said, teeth gritted in pain. "His scope's got heat vision or something! He can see us through things!" She heard another gun shot, and then she found herself dead, looking down at her headless body before it vanished.

"I've got you." Katie said, sliding over to her position. Ti'ana flicked through the fireteam link, spotting Bianca distracting Tor'lac with repeated fire. It was a sniper duel, and Tor'lac's size was working against him. Ti'ana was brought back to life, and landed with a thump. "That scope is our biggest obstacle. We need to take it out, fast."

"I think I've got a plan. Light, load up some ice Dust."

"Ok. But with his size, the best we could do is impair his movement." Light said, mixing the Dust for her.

"That's what I'm counting on." She jumped over her cover and ran straight towards Tor'lac. Noticing his approaching enemy, Tor'lac turned round and raised a fist, ready to smush her. But she tapped into her Super, jumping over his swinging fist and slamming the ground by his feet. Ice spread everywhere, coating him thickly. Icicles stuck out jaggedly, catching against plating and limbs. She jumped back as he moved at a glacial pace, quickly switching her shotgun for a sniper rifle.

The air was filled with quick cracks, as both she and Bianca fired in quick succession. They weren't bothering to hit his head; they were both going for the scope. Three shots in, and the lens shattered, leaving it useless. They then turned to his head, scoring headshot after headshot. Behind them, Katie had unfurled her fusion rifle into a staff, spinning around while holding the trigger to deal with the adds. A rain of Solar energy flew from her, striking any Cabal that didn't get out of the way.

With a roar like thunder, Tor'lac shattered the ice coating him, reaching behind his back and pulling out a massive hammer. Well, it was massive to _them_. To him it was probably normal size. The head was built with a spike at the back, and coils glowed with energy. When he brought it down against the ground…

The world trembled.

Cabal soldiers and rubble were sent flying off the edges, falling to the ground far below. The Guardians were sent flying too, crashing into walls and skidding along the ground. Katie went crashing through into a hall, right next to a massive hole in the wall; Bianca nearly fell off, double jumping and just grabbing the ledge; and Ti'ana was sent all the way to the very edge, just avoiding falling off. Rubbing her head, she slowly got back up… And immediately saw Tor'lac approaching her.

"I've said this many times before; but one of these days, your 'plans' are going to get us killed. For good." Little Light said.

"You being cynical isn't helping right now." She replied, reloading her sniper rifle. Crouching down, she kept firing at his head, bullet after bullet striking his helmet. But leaders like him were _always_ tougher than they should be; at this rate, she wasn't going to kill him before he got over there and smashed her like fruit.

Back inside of Beacon, Katie was crawling out of the rubble that fell on top of her, brushing off dust and having Dinklebot fix all her internal injuries. As she knelt down to catch her breath, she wondered if there was anything she could do. She looked up, trying to find something useful, when she spotted a very familiar shape, half hidden under a collapsed roof. An idea came to her. It probably won't work, but it was worth a shot.

Tor'lac swung his hammer wide, sweeping it over the ledge and forcing Ti'ana to duck. He was getting closer and closer, and she was out of special ammo. The edge of the ledge was right behind her feet, and there was nowhere else to go. Tor'lac twisted the handle of his hammer, and the coils started heating up. It won't be long before he smashes the ground again. He grunted something at her.

"He… He just asked if you have any last words." Light translated. Ti'ana glowered at the Centurion, ready to curse him with every swear word she knew. But then she spotted something approaching from behind. It was the kind of stupid, ill-thought out, reckless plan _she_ would've come up with. And it was awesome.

"Here's some last words; sucks to be you, asshole." She said, Light translating for her. She jumped off the ledge, grabbing hold of it with both hands. Tor'lac looked in confusion, before he heard the sound of an Interceptor engine. He turned around to see Katie driving it straight towards him, both engines blasting at full.

He had the horrible moment where you _know_ you're screwed, but can't do a damn thing about it. Then the Interceptor crashed into him, and the momentum and mass was enough to push him too far. He overbalanced, and both he and the Interceptor fell of the ledge. He bellowed as he fell, too far for his jetpack to reach land.

Bianca and Katie fired rockets down at him, just to make sure.

Ti'ana pulled herself up, rolling over to lie on her back before raising a thumb's up. "Badass." She said.

"I know." Katie replied smugly.

Bianca turned away, linking to her comms. "Tower Control, this is Fireteam Tramon. We have successfully retaken Beacon Academy. Standing by for reclamation team."

* * *

A large, rugged boxy ship warped in above them, hovering overhead before beaming down a large pile of crates and people. Frames unfolded and started sorting out the crates, while half a dozen humans were beamed down. They got to work leading the Frames, and their team leader approached the Guardians. He was dressed in red overalls, and had a large bushy moustache. Next to him was probably his assistant or something, a younger-looking man with stubble and messy hair.

"Great work Guardians." The team leader said. "Shaxx had us on standby for this place as soon as the Vanguard wanted to get it back. Nice to know we weren't waiting too long."

Ti'ana held out her hand, both of them shaking quickly. "Nice to finally meet the reclamation service. I'm Ti'ana, this is Bianca, and that's Katie."

"Name's Geoff. And this is my buddy Gavin." He looked around at the platform. "Geez, you guys really fucked this place up."

"That was the Cabal. It's what happens when ten feet tall brutes enter a place that wasn't built for them."

"Yeah, no shit. Those Remnant guys ain't going to be happy about this."

"Are we going to fix this up too?" Gavin asked, looking worried.

"Shaxx will assign a bigger team for this. Or maybe the Speaker will. But right now, we need to do _our_ job; get this place ready for Crucible."

"Hey guys!" Another team member called out. He had a chinstrap beard. "Do you think there's any Cabal still around?"

"Don't think so! They all ran when their leaders were killed!" Katie shouted back.

"Dammit! I wanted to throw it in a hole!" He cursed.

"For The Traveller's sake Ryan, quit trying to keep things in holes." Another member with curly hair replied. "It's disturbing."

"Hey, Michael! Quit arguing and get those spawn points set up!" Geoff shouted back. "Ryan, forget about your Traveller-damn obsession with catching things and go help Jeremy get those ammo crates installed!" He turned back to the Guardians. "You guys can go now. We've got this covered."

Ti'ana nodded. "Right. See you guys later." Their ships hovered overhead, and they were beamed up to them.

Then they were on their way back to the Tower.

* * *

"That was actually a pretty good mission." Katie said, admiring her new fusion rifle. "Sure, Beacon got wrecked a lot, but at least it's ours again instead of enemy hands."

"Mmhm. Do you think anyone actually told Ironwood that we're converting Beacon into a Crucible arena?" Bianca asked, holstering her new hand cannon.

"Well there's not much he can do about it. We don't have enough men to post a permanent guard. And I can't think of any Guardian willing to just stand there 24/7 guarding a building." Ti'ana replied. She had gotten a new sniper rifle from the Vanguard. "He'll just have to bear with it. At Ozpin will understand." They climbed up the stairs to Tower Watch, squeezing past a group of Guardians heading down. "After I get something to eat, I'm going to do some patrols on Venus. You guys want to join me?"

"Ti'ana!" They all looked up, and spotted Team RWBY sitting on some crates near the bounty board. Ruby was waving her arms wildly, jumping up and down. The three Guardians jogged around the railing, joining them up on top. They removed their helmets, letting the air wash over their faces.

"Hey. If it isn't my favourite kinder guardians." Ti'ana said warmly, giving Ruby a hug. She turned towards Yang, and immediately started stifling her laugh. "Yang… You look different. Did you get a…? Did you get a…?" She couldn't finish her sentence. She just burst out laughing.

Yang glowered at her. "Not funny. Not funny at all." She said, running a hand along her trimmed hair. Gone were her usual long locks of golden hair. Now it stopped around her chin, the top thinned out. "This is literally the worst thing ever."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Oh quit being such a drama queen. Blake and I had to get haircuts, and you don't see _us_ whining about it." Weiss' ponytail was gone, replaced by a formal bob… with a feathery look sticking up the back. Blake had managed to keep some length, holding it back from her eyes by use of a bandana. Luckily for Ruby, her hairstyle was already regulation length.

Bianca leaned against the railing. "You guys still resting from your big crazy mission?" She asked. "The way the rumours are going, you guys must've had some fight."

"It was totally awesome." Ruby said. "We were badass crime-fighting butt-kicking name-taking adventurers." She started showing off some fighting poses.

"Don't get too cocky; there's plenty of things out there that would _love_ to kill you." Solas said. He carried two mugs in his hands, holding one out for Ti'ana. "I thought you might want this."

"Traveller, yes." She replied happily, snatching the beverage from him, giving him a peck on the cheek before gulping it down. "The quartet weren't too much trouble for you?"

"No worse than keeping an eye on you." She responded by elbowing him in the ribs. He backed off, but there was a smile on his face.

"So what did you guys do?" Bianca asked, still interested.

"We had to stop the Fallen from capturing several unused rockets." Blake explained. "Then when a Ketch appeared, we decided to use the rockets to destroy it. It dealt a lot of damage, and kept them out of enemy hands."

"…That's unbelievably awesome." Katie stated.

"Yeah. Why don't _we_ ever blow things up with rockets?" Ti'ana asked.

"Because we don't _find_ any. Not in working order at least." Bianca answered. "But seriously, good job. It's not storming a landed Ketch and killing its Kell, but it's just as amazing." She bumped Ruby's shoulder. "Nice work."

Yang slid in, pushing Ruby to the side. "Actually, it was _my_ idea." Bianca bumped her shoulder. "What about you guys? What exciting and amazing adventures have you gotten up to lately?"

"Not much." Ti'ana answered. "Killed a few hundred guys each; walked into the Hellmouth and came back richer; killed another Vex Gatelord; and we liberated the hell out of Beacon."

"You got Beacon back?!" Team RWBY all shouted, crowding around her. "This is awesome!" Ruby exclaimed. "We can finally go back to Beacon. Ozpin and Ironwood are probably organising a trip there as we speak!"

"Hold on Ruby. Things aren't that simple. The Cabal don't just give up on a potential target." She paused. "Well, I guess no one gives up on a potential target. But that's not the point. The point is that they're going to keep coming back unless we give them a _very_ good reason to stay away. And the best way to do that is to have several Guardians guarding it from intrusions."

"We're getting Guardian bodyguards?" Weiss asked.

"Crucible." Solas said. "Guardians are too flighty and active to stay in one place for long. The only way to keep a good number around is to have Crucible fights in a location."

"…I'm confused. I thought the Crucible was arena combat between teams of Guardians." Blake said.

"It is." Katie replied.

"So what you're saying is that you're turning our school into a battleground."

"Oh trust me; the Cabal already made it a battleground. But our system works. Look at it like this: One Guardian can deal with most problems out there. Three can handle some of the biggest names out there. And six is enough to kill god-like monsters. Crucible matches range from six to twelve max. That's enough Guardians to repel an army. No one out there is willing to tangle with so many."

"All our Crucible arenas are places the City wants to keep a hold of." Solas added. "It won't look pretty, but it means that we can study the portal network without interruptions."

Ruby mulled it over. "Well… You guys _have_ been doing this longer than we have. So if you say it works… then I guess it works."

Their conversation was interrupted by beeping from their Scrolls. "Guys, we're getting a message from the Vanguard. Everyone is; and it's big. Whatever they're telling us, it's important." Their Ghosts said. The three of them worked together to project a large-screen version of the message. The eight of them crowded around to read it.

Ti'ana gasped as she read it. "No. Way."

"Damn." Bianca said in awe.

"Woo. You guys can thank Warlocks for this." Katie cheered.

"New gear? New weapons? More exotics?" Ruby squealed.

"More ways to customise your appearances. Now maybe I can stand out from the crowd." Yang said.

"They're changing the currency? But we just got some of the old stuff." Weiss exclaimed, pouting.

"You've got four weeks to get as many as you can." Solas pointed out. "Plenty of time."

Ti'ana turned to look at everyone. "You guys know what this means?"

Bianca nodded. "Time to go back out on patrol."

* * *

**Yep, we finally see Guardians using Dust. These were the ideas I came up with. You guys would probably think of more uses.**

**I am **_**definitely**_** decreasing their effect and use to make things a little bit more fair, mainly because part of the way through I wondered why someone would use a Solas subclass when you can add fire to a different subclass. Having it be an added bonus is a great way to do that. Oh, this guy is vulnerable to fire? Shame you're using more Void than Solar then.**

**When I was coming up with Cabal names, All I really picked up on was that they had apostrophes in their names. A bit like Awoken do. So I just made up names and added an apostrophe in them. Fun fact: Gol'dan started out as Gul'dan. Naming things can be hard at times.**

**And as you can tell from the ending, I am introducing The Taken King changes. Not the add-on, just the updates. The main reason I'm doing this is because I'm tired of trying to look up older gear and figuring out what they looked like. Also because I **_**started**_** this adventure with my characters wearing the gear they had at the time of House of Wolves. I literally started off with add-on gear early. At least this way, I can use the gear and descriptions from the stuff I've already got equipped. And since they added Challenge of the Elders, we can add **_**that**_** to House of Wolves. Plus, my gear looks awesome. And Dust explains so much.**

**There's going to be a companion chapter for this added next. Chapter 15. It's going to be the message that our characters saw. Just a heads up.**

**PS: Yes, the Crucible Reclamation Team is Achievement Hunters. Geoff, Gavin, Ryan, Michael, Jack, Jeremy, Lindsay, Matt, and Trevor. They used to have a guy called Ray, but he moved to working in a Foundry.**


	15. A Message from the Vanguard

**Chapter 15: Message from the Vanguard**

***Important Message for **_**all**_** Guardians and Remnants.***

Cayde here. The Vanguard have heard plenty of rumours from Guardians wondering about the Remnants. And more importantly, what exactly they bring to the Last City. A lot of you wonder why you're having to fight with children and act as babysitters.

First off, shut up. Most of you can measure the amount of time you _remember_ being alive in months. And you all act like demented children. Secondly, anyone who keeps complaining about babysitting will be forced to go around in a diaper. Yes, the City makes adult-sized diapers. Or at least they will when I pay Glimmer for some.

Thirdly, they offer plenty for us. And thanks to a partnership between us and them, we've got some much-needed improvements for you whiny losers. Lots of improvements. Enough that we're making a list. Read it all carefully; this applies to you, I don't want to hear any complaining, and you've only got four weeks to prepare for the new upgrades.

Now let's get this ball rolling.

_**Light Level:**_

Every experienced Guardian knows how the Light Level works. You fight and kill and complete missions until your personal experience reaches a max of 20, and then you get better missions to get better gear with higher amounts of Light in them. Your body and Ghost uses that Light to boost your abilities, allowing you to fight bigger and better missions to get bigger and better loot. You can also upgrade your existing loot to make yourself better too.

Guardians have complained about how time consuming this was, and how you had to get rid of your sweet gear to wear better gear. Thanks to the inclusion of Dust from the Remnants (and that's Dust with a capital _D_), we've managed to create an upgrade for your Ghosts. And the way Light works.

Now, you don't need high-levelled gear to do level 30 missions. Now, you earn more experience to raise yourselves from 20 to 40. That's your personal experience. No matter what, you can't get any lower than that. And before you high-level fighters complain, when the conversion hits your max personal level will be equal to your max _equipped_ Light level. So if you're level 32 but are wearing 25 level gear when the upgrade hits, you've only got yourself to blame.

But that's not saying that we're getting rid of Light level completely. Your Light level is now the average level of all your equipped gear. And it increases your damage and defence abilities. The higher it is, the more damage you deal, and the less you take. So for example, say that you've got all your gear at 270. Your Light level will be 270. But then you equip an auto rifle at 280. Your new Light level will be 271.

And all you Warlocks out there, don't start telling me that I got my math wrong. I know what's going on; you don't, so shut up and listen. There's more to talk about.

_**Artefacts:**_

Some of you found old relics while you were out collecting gear and taking names. Kabhr's Compass. Praydeth's Cape. A book about Mara Sov. These items, while valuable to the Cryptarchs, are useless to you. So you hand them in, or more likely threw them away.

Well, turns out they're _not_ so useless anymore.

Long story short, a Cryptarch accidently got some Dust on one of those artefacts and found that the Dust empowered them. Gave them some Light. And they now help you guys generate more Orbs of Light, along with adding to your Intellect, Discipline and Strength stats. So if you get one that says it'll grant a chance for an Orb whenever you throw a Solar Grenade… better grab a Solar class and start tossing grenades.

And yes, they also count to your Light level.

_**Infusion:**_

Remember how I was saying that Guardians complained about having to replace useful old gear for weaker new gear just because they're a higher Light level? Well, Old Banshee's found a workaround for that problem.

Infusion.

…I can see you looking like a lost Dreg. Fine. Let me explain.

Infusion is a new process Banshee made to allow you to keep your old gear, while still getting the bonuses of a higher Light level. By expending some of your hard-earned resources, you can take a higher levelled item, have it converted into Light, and then added to a weaker item of the same type. So say that you've got a Devil hand cannon. It's got great range, does good damage, and it's got a nifty Feeding Frenzy perk. But then you come across an auto rifle that's got way more damage than your Devil. But you hate auto rifles; you think they suck. Well, you can take that auto rifle and Infuse it into your Devil, keeping the weapon and the perks while still getting that higher damage potential. It only costs a couple hundred Glimmer, five or so marks, ten weapon or armour pieces and a Mote of Light.

And best of all, it's a 1:1 ratio. Infusing a 290 damage weapon is going to give you a 290 weapon.

_**New Weapon Foundries:**_

Some of you guys have heard of companies like Omolon, Suros, Tex Mechanica, Hakke, and Crux/Lomar. But apart from Exotics, you've never actually handled any of their weapons.

There's a very good reason for that. And that reason is called The Foundry Wars.

Now, we're kinda wary about letting them get that kind of power and control again. But some of them sold us a very good deal, and after a lot of talking, we all finally agreed. I insulted them, Zavala grumbled, and Ikora tried to keep us all in line.

What this deal means for you guys, however, is that there are now _more_ weapons for you guys to kill aliens with. Suros, Hakke and Omolon have all agreed to supply the Towers with their weapons. You can now get them from Banshee, the Factions, Rahool, and us. They don't make _every_ weapon though. Some of them make some, and others make… others.

So here's a rundown for you guys so you know who makes what.

_Hakke – Functional, Reliable, Unapologetic:_ Hakke are all about dealing as much damage in as quick a time as they can. They're easy enough to use since they're good at being pointed and fired at something. Nothing fancy, but sometimes that's more than enough. Hakke makes hand cannons, auto rifles, pulse rifles, shotguns, and sniper rifles.

_Omolon – The Future is What We Make Of It:_ Marketing themselves as the guns from the next millennia, Omolon is the opposite of Hakke. They favour perk abilities over direct damage, and they look like someone missed some quality control. But despite that, they're damn well dangerous in the right hands. And really now, who _doesn't_ like being able to reload their weapon in a blink of an eye? They build hand cannons, scout rifles, fusion rifles, and sniper rifles.

_Suros – Elegance in the Face of Brutality:_ Ah, Suros. Builds guns that look really weird and dated. Made from some weird Golden-Age polymer stuff, and lots of curved parts. They specialise in weapons that can be modded for nearly any situation. And they've got nifty holo sights. In the middle of a fight, being able to switch from long range to close range is a godsend. They build auto rifles, pulse rifles, scout rifles, and rocket launchers.

Remember this info. You're probably going to be using their weapons a lot.

_**Exotic Replication:**_

We said that the Foundries offered us a damn great deal to get us to do business with them. And that deal was mass producing Exotics.

I know. I thought they were lying out of their asses when I heard it too. But it's real.

Through means they refuse to say (but lack the sheer damages of trying to steal from a Guardian – that first time didn't end well for anyone) they managed to get schematics of exotic weaponry. And after a lot of studying and work, they found a way to build more of these.

And so we're setting up two screens in the Hall of Guardians. One for weapons, and one for armour. If someone in your fireteam has or had an Exotic that _you_ want, you just need to bring up an Exotic shard and a ton of Glimmer, and they'll build you one of your own. It'll be stuck at 280 for attack or defence, but thank the Traveller for Infusion.

Yeah, it might be broken. But any alien facing three Achlyophage Symbiotes is going to probably wet their pants in fear.

_**Quests and Bounties:**_

One upgrade for your Ghosts and Scrolls that'll make things easier is the introduction of the Quest tab. This tab will keep track of all your progress. You'll have a list of quests, missions to complete for rewards; bounties, things to do in mission or patrol; and your reputation, so you can tell at a glance how close you are to levelling up your faction or Vanguard reputation.

_**Vault Space:**_

A lot of people keep saying that there's not enough space in the vaults. So in order to stop your whining, we're upgrading the system to hold 72 weapons, 72 armour, and 36 general items. Per fireteam.

You're welcome, you ungrateful idiots.

_**Marks**_:

Around the time Crota was planning on making his return, we the Vanguard tried out something new. Commendations. You needed one Commendation _along_ with enough Vanguard Marks to purchase new gear.

Needless to say, you guys weren't happy. So we got rid of them.

But now we're making _another_ change. This time about the marks. We're making them useless and replacing them with something new. We call them Legendary Marks.

Legendary Marks make things so much simpler. They function as both Vanguard _and_ Crucible Marks. Meaning that you get them from both missions from us, and you use them to buy gear from both of us. And the Factions. The Factions are also using Legendary Marks, in case you've joined by you fight only aliens. You can only hold 200 max, but there's no limit on the amount you can get per week. So you can get 200, spend them on stuff from us, and then go get 200 more. And they're available to all members of your fireteam. Think of it as a shared cash pool. Like your Glimmer.

What does this mean for the Marks you've already worked so hard to collect? Well for every 25 marks you have on you, we will offer a Commendation. These can be turned in for Reputation. 250 reputation to be exact. So better start collecting them.

_**Factions:**_

In order to get more people to join them and their crazy causes, the Factions are changing up their system. You don't have to wear their colours anymore to get rep, and it won't cost you your Vanguard or Crucible rep.

Instead, it'll be symbiotic. Ikora offered that word.

So, for a lump sum of Glimmer, you will buy a badge from them that's loaded into your Ghost. While having this badge, you get half again your reputation donated to your Faction. So if you get 100 Vanguard rep, and 50 Crucible rep, you will get 75 Faction rep on top of that. Meaning that you can work towards all of us at once. Pretty nifty. And they also accept donations. Materials, Motes, ammo, and weapon and armour bundles. Hand these in for more Faction rep.

I've also been told that they'll offer an Exotic-class class item for any Guardian that reaches level 25 reputation. Just saying.

Oh, and you _can_ change Factions by trading in your badge. But you can only be part of one, and you have to wait till Wednesday to be able to trade again.

_**Reputation Rewards:**_

Something new and useful that we've found with Dust is that when infused into newly encoded gear, it generates a Light level higher than your currently equipped gear of the same time. So, if you need a 299 helmet to complete your ensemble, just wear your highest helmet when seeing us, and hope you get a helmet high enough.

_**Ghost Shells:**_

This only concerns Guardians, so Remnants can scram.

The Ghosts have been converting Dust into new shells for themselves, offering Light levels amongst other things (remember what I said earlier? I _didn't_ miscalculate, nerds). Aside from finally looking different, they also help you collect materials. The new Ghost Shells can pinpoint on your map and HUD the location of any nearby material, and with Legendary shells can also acquire some whenever you grab an engram on a certain planet. Legendary shells can also gather Glimmer for you whenever you kill a certain type of enemy, often the kind found on the planet who's material you can collect.

And before you ask, there is no Exotic Shell.

_**Sterling Treasures and Chroma:**_

Any of you met Tess Everis, that nice young Awoken willing to get things less than legal? In exchange for us looking the other way, she's offering some new stuff called Sterling Treasures. In them are nifty little bunch of things. Mainly armour called Chroma Armour.

What's so special about Chroma armour? Well, it's got Golden Age tech in them call Chroma. Chroma is… well, it's lights. It's a way to light up your armour. But it looks awesome, walking around like an old neon sign.

And thanks to Dust again, it's even more useful. Slightly.

We'll talk about that in a moment.

Also, Chroma gear starts at 3 defence. You'll need to infuse them to get them at a good level. But they come with perks. And raising your reputation levels can net you Faction/Crucible/Vanguard Chroma gear.

_**Dust:**_

Now we're getting to the really awesome stuff. You see, Dust is used a lot back in Remnant. It's their ammo, their power sources, and even their magic. Dust is a crystallised version of Light, and we've found through rigorous testing that Dust can be used to alter your abilities. According to Fireteam Tramon, who tested it out recently, Dust can be used to enhance your subclass abilities. When their Titan used Gravity Dust along with her Fist of Havoc, she created a localised gravity well, sending enemies floating helplessly into the sky. Their Warlock used ice Dust with her Nova Bomb to freeze all enemies solid, before shattering them into itty-bitty pieces. And their Hunter used Fire Dust in conjunction with her Golden Gun to create a blast powerful enough to rival a Cabal tank.

Of course, they were all injured by the prototype. But we've worked out the bugs by diluting the effects. Dust is now on a timer, just like your grenades and melee. Your Ghost will load small cartridges of Dust into your armour, giving you a one-time/limited effect with them. Then it requires time to use your Light to grow some more. Also, the effects won't be as impressive. It won't be a 'win instantly' ability. Strategic planning _is_ needed.

I mean, what good is acting like a cannon if you burn to death afterwards?

And the connection with Chroma? Well, your lights change to match whatever Dust you're currently using. A great way to know if that Guardian is going to burn you to death or throw you into the air with a tornado.

_**Weapon Transformation:**_

Those of you who guided Remnants probably know what I'm talking about. The inexplicable and awesome cultural need to have every weapon be at least two weapons. A gun becomes a sword, a spear becomes a hammer, a shield becomes a laser beam… Why didn't we come up with that?

Well, we have now. All armours are loaded with combat styles for pretty much every weapon used by Mankind. Assuming your Ghost can transform your weapon for you, you'll know how to use it. So go nuts. Fight with an auto rifle before turning it into a hammer and then an axe before smacking someone with a shield. Or make a drill that turns into a bow that turns into a guillotine. It's all up to you. And the limits of your Ghost.

And of course, as always there will be new armour, new weapons, and new Exotics to collect and discover.

Four weeks to go Guardians. And then we'll start doing some _real_ damage.

***End Message***

* * *

**There's probably an item or two that I forgot about. But I feel like I covered the important stuff. We could just say that the Vanguard didn't mention it because Cayde was the one writing this.**


	16. Timeskip

**And here we go again. Another chapter, and almost in time for Rise of Iron. I originally wanted to post this on the night it came out, but I was only halfway done when 9:00 (my time) came around. I'll voice my opinion about the expansion at the end. Obviously from the title, this takes place a significant amount of time after the last chapter, where everyone's had time to get new loot and new gear. At least this way, I can use my Taken King gear for the descriptions before it inevitably gets replaced.**

**Now, onto the story.**

* * *

**Chapter 16: Timeskip**

Deep in the Venusian Jungle, far off the beaten path, was a series of floating blocky towers hovering over an endless abyss of a hole. Jumping from one tower to the next would lead one through a path of interconnected buildings, windows and openings showing a variety of unusual landscapes not found on Venus. It would be considered picturesque, a lovely thing to show off to the tourists… if it weren't for all the Vex shooting at you in every room.

"Hyaaa!" Yang yelled as she jumped through the air. "Taste fist, robot bastards!" The row of Vex she was aiming for disappeared into clouds of data, reappearing behind her as she landed. "Oh, _come on!_ Enough with that bullshit!" She turned around and fired concussive Dust blasts from her gauntlets, tearing them apart. Not far from her, Weiss was jumping away from a Minotaur, the ground at her feet cracking as Void cannon after Void cannon impacted, the Minotaur chasing after her. She spun Myrtenaster's dial, stopping on a purple chamber. Immediately, the edge of her blade glowed with energy, and when she charged forward there was an echo of herself following her. She stabbed the Minotaur repeatedly, tearing through its shield before striking at key points on its body. The plating around its elbows and knees buckled, and it fell over in a heap. Weiss then pulled out a shotgun, pressed it right against its eye, and fired point-blank.

Ruby and Blake double-teamed the last group of Vex, slicing them apart from both sides. As the last frame fell in pieces, the far wall started glowing with lines. Lights formed around it, and then the wall vanished away. It led to a much larger room, a massive circle surrounded by a misty pit.

Weiss looked at it dubiously. "Are we sure this is a Vex database?" She asked. "It doesn't look like the others we've accessed."

"It's inactive right now." Their Guardian said over the comms. He was a gruff Titan named Cole, who barely thought them capable. "Once I start things up on my end, then it'll be something fancy. Now, before we start, let's just go over our roles one last time." Weiss rolled her eyes; they had been over it at least three times now. How much more prepared can they get?

Ruby took over the conversation. "You are back at the control tower, waiting by the uh… controls. Once we get into position, you'll activate the console from your end, starting things up over here. According to Ikora's notes, the control room will seal up, and you'll have to fight the Timekeeper. Alone."

"I've killed worse things than this. You brats just worry about yourselves; you've got a very limited span to grab something useful before the database shuts down and Vex start swarming your location. You got the hacker tool?"

"Ready." Ruby replied, pulling out her scroll from a pouch. It had a large, crudely-made frame attached to it, wires sticking out in places. "Once we've gotten something, we'll head up top and radio our ship. Piece of cake."

"Cut the cutie bullshit and pay attention. They're not going to stop until they either kill you or you get off world. Any of you four get left behind, I'm not coming back to save you." The comms were cut off; evidently, he was done talking.

"Man. What an asshole." Yang said, grabbing her Auto Rifle and heading towards the circle. "Why did he even volunteer for this if he doesn't even like us?"

"The loot. Apparently they get offered something from the Vanguard for helping us out." Blake answered. "He's just interested in a new gun or piece of armour." The circle suddenly lit up, the air humming loudly. Many line of light stretched upwards, interweaving and linking together to form a solid shape. Once they reached towards the roof, they started branching out, until there was a tree of light before them.

"Let's go team." Ruby said, running towards it at full speed and the others not far behind her. She tapped at her scroll, the screen lighting up once she was close enough. The wire sparked violently, and the tree started flashing. A timer lit up in the corner of her screen. "Come on little guy. You can do this."

Seconds ticked down slowly, every one of them a heavy weight on their shoulders. Yang rolled her shoulders in agitation while they waited for the oncoming attack. Ruby bit her lip as she watched a circle forming on her screen. Just a little bit more… Just a _teensy_ bit more… Just a _smidgen_ more…

There was a loud mechanical bellow, coming from all sides. The Vex noticed them.

"Ruby, we need to leave." Blake said.

"But… But we've still got thirty seconds." Ruby replied. "We're supposed to grab as much as we can before running away."

"She's right, Blake." Weiss added. "We just have to hold them off." Ruby gently put the Scroll down on the ground, pulling out Crescent Rose and slamming her point-first into the ground. She slotted in a purple magazine, and Crescent started glowing with purple lights.

In scant seconds, a large horde of Vex walked menacingly towards them, bodies whirring as they aimed their cannons and rifles.

"Fire!" Ruby shouted, pulling the trigger and slightly adjusting Crescent's position. The others joined in, laying down a barrage of Dust blasts. The Vex were getting torn apart, but some were able to teleport before the shots struck them, still on approach. Ruby knew that trying to fight them with melee was like going for the lottery; so she simply pulled out her new hand cannon and remembered her training. Put one foot behind her and press against it. Level your gun at your target. Pull the trigger, and go with the recoil. Don't fight it. Wait until your aim is straight again, and fire another shot. Rinse, wash, repeat. With the occasional dodge of Minotaur cannon shots.

After an agonisingly amount of this, the tree behind them went dark. The lines and branches vanished away, leaving the platform empty. "Ruby, it's finished!" Weiss called out. "Grab the scroll and let's get out of here!"

"Right. Team RWBY, full retreat!" She ordered, grabbing the scroll from behind her as she ran away. The external attachment was blackened now from overwork; she pulled it off and folded up her scroll, putting it back in her pocket. Then the four of them were jumping from ledge to ledge, dodging more shots and trying to gain extra height. Thank goodness that the Vex liked straight lines and cube things. But Ruby nearly stumbled as she was struck by laser fire. Some of the Vex were teleporting up here, trying to keep up with them.

The roof started getting closer. The hard, seamless roof. Yang reached behind her back, grabbing the strap of explosives and tossing it into the air. Then she fired a shot after it, hitting the explosives just as it struck the roof. The concussive force nearly sent them back to the ground, Weiss' glyphs managing to keep them in the air like platforms. The Vex nearby weren't as lucky, falling back down in pieces. Making one last jump, they hopped up onto the roof. The sun streamed down on them, painfully bright after their time in the dark. Blake tapped her scroll; as they waited, they saw another ship flying off near them.

"Guess Cole wasn't kidding when he said he was leaving us." Ruby noted.

"Forget about him. It won't be long before the Vex try to get up here." Yang said, leaning over the hole she made. She fired a few more shots downwards, hitting some Vex. Indeed, Ruby spotted the dark clouds that marked arriving Vex. She ran over to them, waiting for the flash. Once that happened, she swung Crescent wide. When the cloud vanished, the Vex were already sliced apart.

A deep thundering roar of an engine sounded, their ship on approach. Everyone rushed into the center just as it came to a hover, the four of them vanishing into light as they were teleported onboard. The Vex kept on appearing, shooting at them before they finally pulled away, leaving the atmosphere.

Everyone flopped down onto the chairs in the living quarters, pulling off their helmets and taking deep breaths. Yang reached into the nearby fridge unit, grabbing a drink and taking a big gulp. Ruby slicked back her sweaty hair, before pulling out her scroll. On the screen was a big glowing circle.

She smiled down at it. "Mission accomplished."

* * *

"Excellent work, Huntresses." Ikora Ray congratulated them. "You managed to gain a significant amount of data from that source."

"Will this get us one step closer to finding a way home?" Blake asked.

"Hard to say at this point. It could simply be more data related to things outside our destination. Without a proper look, all I could give you right now is speculation." Ikora held the screen close to her Ghost, letting it download the data. "Now, I believe we promised you four legendary vanguard weapons?"

"Hell yeah. Can't wait for an upgrade." Yang said. "I'm still using a 245 Auto Rifle."

"Then I'm certain you'll like the options available to you." Her Ghost projected a screen, showing different weapons, their stats, and their values. Ruby immediately picked out a Sniper Rifle; Banshee said he was trying to see if their weapons could be infused as well, thanks to all the Dust in them. Yang grabbed a new Suros Auto Rifle, boasting more damage when surrounded. Blake just grabbed a Solar fusion rifle, while Weiss went for a new shotgun. "Good choices. Now, go get something to eat and have a moment to rest. You'll do no one any good with depleted Auras."

"Yes ma'am." They all replied obediently, turning around and walking away. They immediately headed for a kiosk set up in the same building as the postmaster and Eververse Trading Company. Despite the line of fellow Huntsmen grabbing food, it didn't take them long to get something to eat. It was just a pity that most of it was processed; one of the things you got used to when living in the Last City.

And it was also something they _had_ to get used to. It had been over two months since they first arrived here, with the Vanguard slowly getting closer to finding a way home despite all their studying. They all settled for helping out whenever they could, fighting the good fight and all that. Of course, some were now motivated by rewards rather than goodwill. But who could say no to a big shiny new gun or cape?

Ruby took a moment to appraise her team. They had changed a bit since they got here. Yang was… well ok, she hadn't changed much. Still as boisterous and adventurous as ever. Still trying to get her hair past regulation lengths. She was decked out in large shoulder pads and boots with a large bit of plating over one thigh, along with a curved chestpiece she had bartered from a Guardian. It was two different colours, a line going diagonally down her front. She even managed to get Eva Levante to make a newer version of her favourite cloth, hanging from her waist like a Mark. Her helmet had a large plate stuck on the very front, a place she could headbutt people repeatedly with.

Then there was Weiss, her robe covered in diagonal shapes along the chest and Warmind symbols on her hem. Her gloves had the triangles of the Warlock Order on top of her hands, and she found a newer version of her old helmet to wear. She still had a bit of trouble with how the Schnee family name meant nothing out here, but she was slowly getting used to it. She usually acted like a voice of reason in the team, poking holes in Ruby's awesome plans and keeping them all grounded. Without her, they'd probably be in a lot of trouble all the time. She still used Myrtenaster, but also had a shotgun ready for heavy hitting.

Blake… Blake was still quiet, still liked her solitude and reading. But now she happily went around without her bow, not worrying about what people thought. Guess coming to a world where people didn't know or care about Faunus made her feel better. She wore a shorter, skinnier cloak from the Vanguard, along with the arms that looked like wrapped cloth and boots with armour covering the shin. Her helmet was something someone scavenged from a Fallen and modified, traded for a sniper rifle she never used. She kept Gambol Shroud to use with her Semblance, but also carried a fusion rifle for elemental attacks.

And finally, there was herself. Ruby Rose; team leader. She had Eva make her a new cloak after her old one was shredded, still as long and red as ever. She also grabbed some stuff from the Vanguard. Now she wore a cloth over one half of her chestplate, arms that had cloth and bands around the sleeves, and some uncommon boots that stopped at her knees. Her helmet had one large reflective visor, allowing her to act like a mirror to others at times. She carried around a hand cannon for tighter areas, but she mainly used Crescent. You can't go wrong with a High Velocity Sniper Scythe.

"You know, that last mission wasn't too bad." She said, munching away on something she was _pretty_ sure was a sandwich. "We didn't have to worry about some big boss, we didn't take too many hits, and we got out of there ok. That's a win in my book."

"I just wish they could find some way to reactivate the portals." Weiss said. "I know that we all became huntresses to fight monsters, but it's a bit too much here. I feel like we haven't made any headway since we arrived."

"This world has been under attack for centuries, by aliens that have been around for millennia. It's not something a bunch of kids can fix overnight. Or within a few months."

"Well _I_ like it. No matter where you go, there's always something you can smash your fist into." Yang said excitedly. "This place is awesome. I'm not sure I'd_ want_ to leave."

"You're kidding, right?" Weiss said incredulously.

"So what's our next move?" Blake asked Ruby, while Weiss and Yang argued about staying and leaving.

"Well, after we're all rested, we've still got that mission to find that Archon setting up shop in an old weapons depot. Can't let them get too comfortable and stuff." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw three Guardian ladies approaching their spot. She ignored them. "Then maybe we could go out and see a holofilm. I think they're showing that Star Wars series. Someone managed to recover all nine films."

"What about homework?" Right. After the Vanguard managed to recapture Beacon, Ozpin and Ironwood decided that they couldn't forget about their education. Now it was that they had classes again, taking place in a closed-off area of Beacon. Away from the Crucible Arena.

Ruby waved a hand lazily. "Pfft. We've got another three days to do that. We'll just get it done tomorrow or something."

"Well, unlike some of us, I've already done my homework." Weiss remarked, seemingly done with arguing with Yang.

Ruby stared at her for a second. "Then… Can you help me with my homework?"

"It's not that difficult, Ruby. Just pay attention."

"Sounds like you guys are having fun." A familiar voice said. Team RWBY turned around to see the trio of Guardians sitting right behind them. Their Titan pulled off her helmet to reveal blue skin and white hair, a smirk on her face.

Ruby squealed. "Ti'ana!" She rushed over and grabbed her arm, holding it tightly. "Hi. Did you miss me?"

Ti'ana laughed. "Of course. Who else is going to listen to my crazy plans and think 'that sounds awesome'?"

"Covering yourself in explosives and jumping down an Ogre's mouth is more suicidal than awesome." Bianca pointed out. "Just because you can resurrect doesn't make it smart."

"It _was_ awesome though. Still stupid, but awesome." Katie added. Ti'ana threw the packaging of her meal at Katie's head, bouncing it off her helmet.

Weiss took note of their equipment. "Looks like you've been really busy getting new gear. We didn't even recognise you." And she was right. They had changed pretty much every part of their appearance.

Ti'ana was wearing armour patterned with gold, khaki and red. She had similar armoured boots like Yang did, with her upper thighs covered on one side by rubbery-looking pads. Her chestplate was a mostly blocky/curved harness, with a piece of fabric linking the waist coverings to the plating. Her arms were covered by curved plating, a cylinder attached to one shoulder, and blue lights glowing from parts of it. And her helmet was also curved, a single blue line for an eye. Hanging from her hips was a blue cloth that wrapped around the back of her right leg, held on by two clips that were also glowing blue. On her back was an Omolon Scout Rifle in Dead Orbit colours.

Bianca had apparently decided to incorporate fur into her outfit. Her cape and armbands were lined with it, the fur on her arms wrapping around white fabric, and with blue lights glowing from under her shoulder plates. Her chest piece had several sniper bullets strapped to the front, a long stripe going down her stomach, and one edge hanging over her hip. Her pants were pure white, with dark fabric wrapped around the knees and going into her boots. Her helmet had a white mesh covering the lower half, and she had three eyes arranged in a triangle. On her hip was a large hand cannon decorated in black and white, and she had a Vanguard sniper rifle on her back.

And Katie had apparently gone for a theme or two. Most of her gear was marked with the New Monarchy emblem. She had a black robe with a yellow glow diagonally across the front, a separate piece hanging around her waist. Her arms were covered in plating along the lower arms and the left shoulder, also glowing yellow. She wore long red pants with black-and-white boots reaching below the knee, And she had a helmet styled after a bird with two points sweeping outwards. Her visor glowed with white light, masking the front of it. On her arm was a multi-coloured bond showing an eagle. On her back was also an Omolon rifle, but this one seemed almost incomplete.

Bianca shrugged, taking off her helmet. "The Tower's been offering more and more stuff lately. Used to be that Guardians joked you get only one engram per hour. Now it's about four or five an hour, depending on what you're doing. Half of our time is spent getting new gear, and the other half is getting enough materials to _improve_ what we like." She grabbed the small carton she had been carrying, ripped it open, and started spooning the goop into her mouth.

"We went from 150 weapons parts to 5 in one go." Katie added. "And you'd be surprised how quickly you can spend Glimmer on stuff." She sipped on an oil can. "Out of the blue, are you guys free for a mission?"

Ruby looked at her team. "That depends. What kind of mission?"

Ti'ana leaned in, acting all conspiratorial. "Ever heard of the Thunderlord?"

Everyone glanced at Ruby; she was the one most obsessed with weapons. She took a deep breath. "I think it's an Arc Exotic machine gun? It's apparently got great stats all around, and it's got enough stability to allow you to just keep firing without straying from your target. And its special perk is that you can… you can create lightning bombs?"

"Close enough." Bianca replied, pulling out Tyrion. He instantly projected a black machine gun with blue highlights, lightning coursing down the gun. It dropped to the ground. "Its perk is that the rate of fire increases the longer you hold down the trigger _and_ when you kill an enemy with it they have a chance of exploding with Arc energy. People who like machine guns consider it a must-have weapon."

"A must-have weapon the Foundries are all too happy to make." Katie added.

"Cool." Ruby said, smiling.

"So what exactly does this mission of yours have to do with the Thunderlord?" Blake asked.

Ti'ana took over, smiling slyly. "Well, Katie found an old Warlock report about an abandoned Foundry factory. The name of the Foundry has been lost for some reason, but this report said that whoever they were created the Thunderlord. And apparently, they made a second one, supposedly still in storage. So instead of me spending my marks on my own copy, I figured why not grab that other Thunderlord?"

Yang crossed her arms. "So you get a shiny gun out of this. What do the _rest_ _of us_ get?"

"I'll spend my marks on a different Exotic weapon for you guys." Ti'ana instantly replied. "You've probably had your eye on _something_."

"Plus, knowing our luck, there's probably a couple of dozen aliens taking shelter in the factory." Bianca added, knowing what Yang was like.

Yang smirked. "I'm in. I always like punching aliens around."

Ruby nodded. "Give us about an hour to rest, and then we'll join you guys."

"Great. See you then." Ti'ana replied.

* * *

An hour _and a half_ later, the four ships were flying in formation towards Mars; the mysterious foundry had been one of the few based on Mars instead of Earth, working alongside (and possibly in competition with) Clovis Bray. Ti'ana and Bianca still had their old ships, both back in top condition. But Katie's had been a complete write-off. Holiday had actually been surprised it managed to work at all. So she had replaced it with the Fatal Vision, a much larger and wider ship than any other. It actually had to have retractable wings just to fit into the standard docking platforms.

The four ships dropped down through Mar's atmosphere, heading away from the standard drop points and towards a lone complex. The ships slowed to a halt, projecting their pilots down below. The three Guardians and the four Huntresses were all decked out, ready for battle.

Katie looked up as the ships pulled away, heading for the safety of outer orbit. "Nice SUV." She joked, referring to Team RWBY's ship. It was a wider and broader vessel, with two long engines bolted to the side. It could hold lots of cargo and fuel, allowing further travel than most vessels. The shipyard liked to use old car terms for ships; a sleek vessel was Ferrari, a ship with a long nose was a Muscle; and big, fat ships were called SUVs.

Ruby rubbed the back of her helmet in embarrassment. "It was the only kind big enough for a team of four." She explained. "But at least it's got enough space for our Sparrows." She tapped at her Scroll, and two outlines materialised beside them. They were clearly modified with two seats each. Yang and Blake hopped on one, while Ruby and Weiss hopped on the other.

The Guardians summoned their own Sparrows. On all their HUDs, a beacon appeared pointing far away. "Just follow the diamond, and we'll get there in no time." And then they shot off with great speed. Team RWBY raced off behind them.

Several hundred miles away, not far from a wrecked entrance, a Vandal was patrolling all on his own. The area around him was wide and open, offering little cover for encroaching Guardians. He turned regularly, giving no one a chance to sneak up on him. He would see all that approached, and would beam them before they could get within…

There was a loud honking sound, right before something slammed into him from behind. The force threw him into the air, making him spin wildly as he flew. He caught flashes of Guardians riding beneath him, heading along the path he was guarding. Then he slammed against the ground painfully. Bone broken, he weakly and shakily raised himself up, hand outstretched. And then another Guardian slammed into his head with their bike, slamming it into the ground hard enough to crack it.

Weiss looked back. "Was that a Fallen? What's one of them doing all the way out here?"

"Ah, you're just imagining things." Ruby replied airily. "There's no Fallen out here." They pulled up beside the wind-scoured hulk of a factory, its doors smashed open. Curiously, they had apparently been blown from the _inside_.

Ti'ana hopped off first, waving her arm at the building. "Here we are, ladies. Welcome… to the Factory with No Name. Dun dun dunnn." She said dramatically.

"*Cough, cough* Lame. *Cough*." Katie muttered loudly and unconvincingly. Bianca ignored the two of them chasing each other, hand cannon in hand.

"Weapons at the ready people." She ordered. "It's a big, creepy, _abandoned_ factory. Something probably moved in by now." And so she led them all inside, moving quietly and carefully. Every one of them kept one eye on their radar, watching for anything going red. But the whole place was quiet as a grave.

Ruby could swear she could music coming from Ti'ana.

Weiss spoke aloud first, cracking the silence. "Did this magic report of yours say _where_ the prototype was? Or are we just going to wander aimlessly around this place until we find something?"

"Hey, wandering aimlessly can be rewarding too." Katie argued. "You never know _what_ you might find out in some dark crevasse. And dammit, I wish someone else said that. Then I could've gone…"

"That's what she said." Ti'ana and Bianca said at the exact same time, obviously already knowing what she would've said. Ti'ana came to a halt by a set of rusty stairs, bits missing from them and leaving gaping wounds in the metal. Above them was a disused office, obviously ransacked. "I think I have an idea." She said, jumping up onto the stairs. They shook and groaned ominously, but she just jumped off again and went even higher. It only took her two jumps to reach the very top, walking into the office. It lit up with the light of her Ghost, before she walked out the open side and boosted back down to them. Little Light appeared in her hand, before flying off ahead of them. They all quickly followed; he was probably the only one here who knew where he was going.

They headed past ravaged production lines and battered robot arms, in and out of scavenged rooms, until they started getting close to something. There was a pinging sound, startling them all. Everyone looked around, guns ready to fire. A second pinging sound echoed around the room.

Then Ti'ana started cursing, grabbing Super Good Advice. "This had better be important, Advice. You nearly gave us a heart attack." She tilted her head. "Wait, what...? You're kidding… Seriously…?" She sighed. "Fine." She holstered Advice again, obviously annoyed. "Right. So, that Advice scaring the crap out of us. Apparently he just picked up an upgrade component nearby."

Everyone else groaned, shaking their heads. Bianca was muttering about turning him into scrap parts. They all finally agreed to grab it _only_ if it was along the way; this place just kept getting creepier. They should've run into _something_ by now.

Eventually, Light led them to the end of their trip. A giant tube smashed into a wall.

Light huffed. "According to the factory schematics, our prize is _supposed_ to be right through here. If there wasn't a transport bucket in our way."

"So what, there's a secret door here or something?" Yang asked.

"Precisely. I even have the codes, though I'm actually sure if it'll even work. This place is old."

Ti'ana clapped her hands together, rubbing them. "Alright then. Let's shift this fat bastard then. Yang, wanna help?"

"Don't mind if I do." The two of them moved before the bucket, banging their fists on it and trying to identify a weakpoint. Eventually, they made a decision. Ti'ana reached up and grabbed the lip, pulling on it with all her might. With a deep ponderous groan, it started tilting. Meanwhile, Yang crouched down and worked her fingers underneath the raised bottom, grunting as she pushed up on it. Working together, they slowly but surely managed to get it lifted off the ground. Stepping back quickly, they then twisted round, letting it fall to the floor with a thud. Where it had once sat, there was now a very cracked wall. And darkness peeking out.

"Phew." Ti'ana said, dematerialising her helmet long enough to wipe at her brow. "There we go. One secret passage, ready and waiting." She placed a foot on the side of the bucket, giving it a forceful shove. It rolled away until it slammed into a pillar connected to machinery, making a loud bang.

Bianca winced. "Keep it down. You'll wake up something, I just know it."

"But there's nothing here. We haven't found anything since we got here. Face it Bianca; this place is a ghost town." Unbeknownst to them, the pillar had been rusty and cracked even _before_ they arrived. Faced with the kinetic force of a two tonne bucket, it did the one thing time had been waiting for.

Break apart.

Without anything to hold it up, the pillar fell down, causing the conveyer belt it had supported to follow and slam into the ground, making a loud and sudden noise. The impact sent a shockwave down the belt, cracking apart the other pillars holding it up. One by one, the other segments collapsed, making even more noise. Then the end of the belt slammed into a low robotic arm, pulling it down and sending the apparatus to the ground. This dislodged some old metal, pinging it off into a second office stairway, bringing _that_ down too. And finally, as a cruel touch, the supports for the office gave way too, bringing the whole room down with a thunderous crash. The whole place echoed for many seconds.

"…Oops." Ti'ana said quietly. She was answered by the echoey roar of a Fallen Captain. And plenty of other Fallen.

"Nice work you two." Blake said sarcastically.

"Everyone, into the passageway!" Bianca ordered. "We can limit their numbers that way, maybe set up a trap." She led the way in, but had to quickly come to a halt; she spotted Fallen at the other end, weapons at the ready. "Nope! Change of plans! Back up, back up!" The Fallen in the (supposedly) secret room roared, firing down the corridor at them. Bianca took the brunt of the damage, shielding the kids with her body. They all piled out back in the factory, Katie and Ti'ana taking up position on either side and firing back in.

"Aaannd the Fallen are already in the 'secret passage'. Because _of course_ they are." Light muttered. Bianca and Team RWBY took up positions around the entrance, waiting for the rest of the Fallen to arrive. They were startled as they heard the sound of whirring machinery, and the conveyer belts and robot arms started up. "Seriously? How does this place still have enough power for everything?"

"Golden Age Generators. Built to last." Katie replied. Then she stumbled as a Wire shot slammed into her. Fallen Vandals were standing on the conveyer belts, looking down on them. "We're sitting ducks down here. We need to start moving."

Ti'ana jumped up onto a nearby belt, slamming her shoulder into the Vandal before shooting him as he fell. "Fighting inside an active factory against an army of Fallen while dodging mechanical arms? This is going to be awesome!" She started firing into the opposition, dropping plenty of them like flies. Everyone else quickly found themselves some higher ground, getting away from the Fallen Dregs and Vandals streaming in from down below. Ti'ana brought up a screen and tapped at it, heavy and _loud_ metal music playing and startling everyone. As they all gave her a quick glare, she ran across the belt to land on another, her scout rifle changing shape. When she landed, she held an ornate white axe/sickle in her hand, slicing the Vandal's throat with the blade before throwing him away and running towards the next one. She had to come up short though, when a press of some kind slammed down before her. As it rose, the Fallen on the other side lashed out with his blades. She deflected his strike with her weapon, firing a single shot into him before punching him square in the face. He melted away into the air, his body turning into flames. Then she charged forward, twisting around the presses to punch the rest of the Fallen.

Somewhere else in the factory, Bianca was lashing out with her dagger and the Ace of Spades, modified to have a second blade attached to the barrel. She constantly spun around the moving arms, slashing Fallen as she danced. Any Vandal that managed to block her blows got a bullet to the head. And thanks to Ace, she kept having a full clip. As she reached the end of the belt she was on, she stabbed a dagger into the Dreg before her, jumped off his body, tossed out two more daggers into the Vandals taking up position on platforms nearby, and landed on another belt. She tossed out a grenade, scored half a dozen headshots before jumping down below and activating her Bladedancer Super. At the same time, Katie had decided to cover the tunnel that the Fallen were streaming out of, having thrown down a Nova blast to clear the area before firing down the tunnel with her machine gun. A Dreg, Shank, or Vandal was approach from behind, but she simply whirred her gun, fold out a chainsaw at the top and bottom, and cleaved them in half with a single swing.

And while they were doing all that, Team RWBY hadn't been sitting idle.

"Wahoo!" Yang hollered, slamming a fist into a Vandal face, launching off it, flying into the air and shooting Dregs on the way down. Below her, Weiss practically flew along the ground, rapidly stabbing enemies in her path. As crazed Dregs surrounded her, she simply created a gravity glyph under her, throwing and suspending them into the air. Blake swung from the ceiling, picking them off as she passed. And in the other end of the factory, Ruby was dashing around, swinging her scythe wildly. Supports were sliced alongside Fallen, bringing more production lines down to the ground. The surviving Fallen made a tactical retreat, backing off and giving them all space.

"That was fun!" Yang shouted, bouncing in place. "We should get Shaxx to find someplace exactly like this."

"We'd have to disable the presses though." Ti'ana replied, walking backwards to stay just out of reach of said press. "People will call it cheap before the end of the first match."

Weiss gave Ti'ana a look. "Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but I'm certain I saw you burning enemies to death with your punches. Except that Titan's don't have a Solar class. Care to elaborate?"

"Sure." Ti'ana jumped down. "While I was on Remnant, I found a Solar orb on the Ketch. It turns out that there _is_ an order of Solar Titans back home. They're just very secretive, and left the City to work alone. It took a lot of wheedling, but you are now officially looking at the newest member of the Sunbreaker Order." She posed dramatically, obviously pleased with herself.

Ruby tilted her head. "Is that good?"

"Hell yeah it is. If we come across anything else, I'll show you my Super. You'll be blown away." They were interrupted by the sound of a skiff warping in above. One of the largest holes in the roof darkened, as something blotted out the sun.

"Looks like you're about your wish." Light snarked. A giant captain landed, cracking the ground and throwing up dust. It rose up to its full height, a tattered cape billowing. It roared loudly, hoisting up into the air…

"Hey!" Ti'ana cried out angrily. "That's _my_ gun, you son of a bitch!" And indeed, it was holding up a Thunderlord of its own. Obviously, it had somehow recovered it from the secret vault. Against all reasonable thought, she was running pell-mell at it. "Get your stinking hands off of…" The captain used the long barrel to smack her away, tossing her through a broken window.

Bianca shook her head. "Knew one of these days she'd get thrown around like that. Everyone, bring down that captain!" They all started firing, jumping around and hiding behind cover. As per the usual tactics, the Fallen returned to defend their captain.

Over in the far room, Ti'ana groaned. That had actually broken a rib. Or a couple. Sure, it healed before she even really landed, but it still hurt. She got back up on her feet, ready to give that slime-sucking, dick-eating pirate the beating of its lifetime.

A crackle in her ear. "Ti'ana, wait." Advice called out. "My upgrade. It's right here. It's in the room."

She cursed, rubbing her helmet. "Can't this wait? No offence, but I've got a gun to get back."

"It'll be worth. Upgrades always are."

"That's up for debate." She replied, but still she looked around the room. A small diamond appeared on her HUD, hovering over a grey rectangle. She grabbed it and digitalised it, letting it be added to Advice's systems.

"Wonderful. It'll just take a couple of minutes to load." He said.

"Well I can't wait that long. If you're gonna be busy, then I'll have to use something else." Light brought up her gear, and her finger hovered over her Heavy weapons. She tapped at her Arc Rocket Launcher, and it appeared in her hands, already loaded.

"A rocket launcher? You're replacing me with _that_ hunk of junk?" Advice whined.

"If you don't like it, then you shouldn't have started an update in the middle of a fight." She replied, pointing her Arc Choleric Dragon through the busted window. Finding the captain in her scope, she used the tracking ability to score a direct hit. As it recoiled from the blow, she was already running towards it, her launcher changing into a hammer. The captain glared at her as she approached; she ignored it and spun around, gripping the trigger on her handle. The booster on the back of her hammer (using some of her heavy ammo) fired up, adding more velocity to her swing. When it met the captain, it shattered its knee and sent it skidding away. Then, still spinning, she brought her hammer over her head, and slammed it into the captain. Then she lifted it up, and brought it down again.

"Our shields." Light warned her. While she had been doing that, the other Fallen had been firing on her. She was almost dead. Running away, she slammed her fist into the Shank, destroying it with one blow and starting up her regeneration. Then, she called upon the power of flames. Her body was wreathed in fire, and a flaming hammer appeared in her right hand. She jumped high into the air, spinning in place and tossing hammers all around. Fallen burned away and exploded, scorching other Fallen nearby and sometimes causing _them_ to explode. She was clearing out a sizable number of them, remembering to throw the odd hammer at the captain.

Ruby watched all this, clearly amazed.

Her Super spent, Ti'ana tossed a grenade at a group that she missed, the sticky grenade sticking before it exploded. Then she headed for the captain again, now heavily injured from her blows. She lifted her hammer high, ready to crack his skull wide open. But then his body glowed red, and he grabbed her hammer by the shaft and started spinning her around, smashing her into things around him. She was forced to release the weapon, which vanished as she got too far from it. The others started attacking him again, but another wave of Fallen snuck up on them from behind.

There was a chime in her helmet. "Upgrade complete. Systems ready and waiting." Advice said.

"Finally." She groaned. She opened her menu again, equipping Advice and flicking through to consumables, activating a Heavy synthesis. Now with full ammo, she turned towards the Fallen approaching her and let loose. Advice chewed through them with ease, dropping them like flies. She jumped up onto a surviving platform and fired down from above, clearing more enemies. But as she glanced at her ammo count, she just noticed something.

The amount of bullets in her magazine was still full. But her reserve ammo went down everytime she killed an enemy.

"As you probably noticed, I can finally reward you for actually being able to hit something for a change." Advice elaborated smugly. Ti'ana smiled, jumping down to grab the two heavy ammo packs left over from the Fallen. Then she turned around, weaving towards the Captain again.

"Hey Ugly! I got something for you!" She called out, rounding the corner in time to see him stumble into a wall. She let Advice rip as she took up position, her bullets tearing into him. She didn't release the trigger once, letting her magazine refill everytime she managed to hit him head-on. She didn't stop until his health vanished, and he keeled over. The Thunderlord – _her_ Thunderlord – fell to the ground with a clatter. Everyone jumped down and stood around the captain, breathing heavily.

Ti'ana walked past the group, grabbing Thunderlord and wrenching it out of the Captain's grip. Then she kicked his head. "_My_ Thunderlord." She said gruffly, adding it to her inventory. Then she looked at the others. "Well, that was fun. Anybody else get some sweet loot from all this?" Bianca shook her head ruefully, turning away and sitting against a standing post. "What?"

Katie and Dinklebot got closer to the fallen Captain. "Hmm. Strange." Dinklebot mused. "This pattern on his cape… This Captain was from the House of Wolves."

The got everyone crowding around again. Bianca and Ti'ana were a bit worried, while Team RWBY was mostly confused. "I thought the Queen said the Wolves were working for _her_ now." Ti'ana remarked. "What are these guys doing on their own?"

Bianca shrugged. "Maybe she didn't recruit _all_ of them."

Ti'ana shook her head. "Nah, that doesn't seem like her. A captain like this could easily become an Archon, or a Kell, and then she'd have a competitor. She wouldn't let him run around like this."

Ruby stepped in, getting their attention. "Uh, are we talking about the Awoken Queen? I mean the Reef Queen?"

"Yeah. She managed to beat the Wolf Kell, and got the whole house working as her personal guards."

Yang smacked her fists together. "This _must_ be her doing!" She said angrily. "I bet you she's trying to steal more stuff, or have them hunt us down because she hates us or something."

"Whoa, hold on there." Ti'ana said quickly. "I never liked her, but she's not like Uldren. She doesn't do _anything_ unless it benefits her or the Reef somehow. What you're suggesting… it'll just piss us off. Picking a fight with the City doesn't help _anyone_." She looked down at the Captain again. "We'll inform the Vanguard about this. Hopefully they'll know something that could explain all this." And she turned around, leaving the factory behind her.

The others quickly followed after her.

* * *

Roman Torchwick, now newly appointed noble in the Reef, paced around the circular room, swinging his cane around lazily as he walked. In the centre of the room was his prisoner.

"You know, the Queen isn't too happy with you guys." He said. "I mean, in my opinion it's bad enough that you're a disgusting alien freak. I can look past that to admire your skills in thievery." He shook his head ruefully. "But you were given an official pardon by the Queen, to serve at her side for the rest of your lives… And you threw it away to aid some… has-been." Behind him, there was a chittering sound, echoing his words. "Some big idiot with a fancy hairdo just shows up out of the blue, and instead of doing your damn job and killing him, you guys decided to up and leave; killing plenty of Awoken in the process." He came to a stop, and thrust his cane into the Fallen's throat. "There's a way to make things easier on yourself. Tell me where your buddies are hiding… or this will be _very_ painful."

The Fallen Vandal glared at him, his cybernetic arms removed and his remaining arms bound behind him. He started warbling something, still watching Torchwick with those hate-filled eyes. Roman sighed, placing a hand over his eyes.

"This… is why I _hate_ talking to aliens. Ugly; what did he just say?" He called out. From out of the shadows came another Fallen Vandal, dressed in green robes and with clearly mechanical upper arms. He glowered at Roman for a second.

"Fallen said many things." He said in stilted English. "But sum of words… Insulted your lineage. Called you half-breed. Many father, one mother."

"Ohhh. So we're playing this game, are we?" He lashed out with his cane, smacking the Vandal over the head repeatedly until he fell over. "Let's try this again. What would the House of Wolves hide?" The Vandal warbled again.

"This time… 'If I had not mask, I would spit at you.'" Roman smacked the Vandal again. It chuckled, before spitting words at him. "Old flowery insult. Simple translation, he will feast on your arms and burn your manhood." Variks paused. "As I tried to explain, Fallen are stubborn. Will not give up House so easily. Will not give up at all. Loyalty to Kell great, yes?"

Roman whirled around, pressing his cane against Variks' throat. "I don't care how loyal this guy is. Everyone breaks eventually. And the Queen wants answers. So tell him that if he doesn't tell me what I want to know in the next ten seconds, I will _kill_ him." Variks glowered at him again, but eventually turned to the Vandal, conversing with it. Once he was done, the Vandal laughed loudly. Then he shouted something at Roman.

"'Skolas will feed on your Light. Then Wolves feed on your flesh.'" Roman sighed, before blowing the Vandal's head clean off. A white mist formed over his neck, before the body flopped to the ground.

"See? This is what you get for working with alien scum." Roman said as he kicked the body. "They're stupid, stubborn, smell like piss… and stab you in the back whenever they can. The Queen should've killed these bastards the moment she got a chance."

"Variks is standing right here." Variks pointed out.

"Oh, I know. What's your point?" Variks growled angrily. "Go ahead. Try and beat me. The Reef will hang your carcass from the wall before the day's even over. Who are they going to believe? Me, the loyal Roman Torchwick, criminal extraordinaire? Or the disgusting alien everyone's so suspicious about?"

"Variks been here longer. Variks been loyal. Not guided by greed… not like human, yes?" But he still stepped away. "Variks seen your kind. Care about yourself, and want everything. Queen may think you loyal; but Variks knows better. Be watching you." And he stalked out of the room, leaving Roman behind.

Roman despised people and creatures like him. People who could suss him out so easily. He worked by making you think he was your best friend, right up until he rips your throat out. If he wanted to stay here and take advantage of their generosity, then he'll have to do something about that alien bastard.

He smirked. "Variks is dead man walking, yes?" He said, mocking the Fallen's broken English.

* * *

**And there we go. Starting to get set up for House of Wolves, and getting to the Reef. Gonna be interesting to see the Reef trying to get the City to help them.**

**Ok, now for my opinion on Rise of Iron. It's… ok, I guess. It adds more stuff to Destiny, but it's not quite as incredible as the Taken King was. It doesn't change things up as much, doesn't offer new incentives as much… I get they don't want your hard-earned TTK gear to be made redundant, but I haven't actually needed to change my gear. And the new armour designs… I feel like (for a Titan) they're even **_**less**_** armoured than before. And all the Factions have the exact same armour, just with different patterns. At least TTK had them offering different styles. Although the option to now choose from three different packages is nice, along with Ghost Shells and Sparrows. That's neat.**

**So I might've heard this wrong, but I'm pretty sure that Rise of Iron is the last expansion we get before Destiny 2 (don't quote me on this). As such, I've decided to make a list of things I feel they should add to Destiny 2 to make it even better. If you're not interested, then you can stop reading right here. For everyone else, let's begin.**

**-Better voiced cutscenes: In the base story, your character actually spoke. They had a bit of personality. But ever since then, every cutscene involving your character has other people talking while you just smile, nod, and waggle your eyebrows. I know that voice actors can be expensive and may not always have time, but would it really kill Bungie to have our characters say more? Not just single line sentences, but actually hold full conversations with people? It just feels odd if Lord Saladin is thanking me for my help, and I don't actually say anything in response. It makes me look stupid.**

**-Customisable ships and Sparrows: Everyone knows that the ships are basically three or four different parts put together to make some variety. Plenty of them share the same parts across the line. So why couldn't it be that we could use that tool ourselves? It could be that when you dismantle a ship, you could receive the parts from it, and then you could go to Holiday, have her make a blueprint, and then put all these things together to make you a brand new ship, complete with colour scheme and decals. And do the same with the Sparrows. Have us build something with the parts to make our own custom bikes. It could be that Trick Sparrows and Boost Sparrows have different bodies.**

**-More varied armour and weapons: Has anyone ever noticed that the Tower doesn't have much variety? How most of the time the two options the Vanguard offer are just the same piece done slightly differently, and how the Crucible offers the exact same piece with stripes on them? Why couldn't we have something more varied among them? Like, we could have the Vanguard offer a sleeker look and a bulkier look for armour. Or the Crucible feature battle-worn gear, while Dead Orbit has old-fashioned gear and New Monarchy has sleek future-age tech. And same goes for weapons. How cool would it be if I could look at a hand cannon and without needing decals, I could immediately know that it's from Future War Cult?**

**-More Chroma options and add-ons for armour, weapons, and exotics: TTK and ROI had some good ideas about that. You could have your armour glow different colours, and the Iron gear actually changed quite a bit with add-on pieces. But when I looked through the new exotic add-ons, I was immediately hit by how few options there were, and how there were none for Exotic armour. And why do the add-ons be only for two or three sets? It could be that you could have a single add-on for multiple types of armour. So it could be that do you add it to your chest, and get some holograms, or go for more plating on your legs? And maybe offer a couple of options per piece so we can really customise our looks. That way, we won't have teams that look exactly the same.**

**-Transmogrifying: Building off from that, they could also throw in a transmogrification station, so we could take designs we like but have terrible stats, and put them on great gear that we think looks ugly.**

**-New patrol areas: I know they added a couple of places to Destiny, but (no offence to any Russians) I am getting sick and tired of wandering around Old Russia. We've got most a world to explore, and they just keep restricting us to one place per world. Why can't we explore the ruins of America? Or stop Fallen activity in Antarctica or Australia? Why can't we deal with a Hive armada on the dark side of the moon, or actually explore the Vex ruins on Mercury?**

**-Ship battles: Saw this on the internet, and I liked the idea. Most of the ships have obvious weapons, so why can't we use them? We could dogfights with Skiffs, battles with Tombships, and then maybe blow up the cannons on a Ketch before boarding it and killing the Archon in charge. That would be sweet.**

**I know that sometimes we're asking for the impossible. But these are the things I think Destiny 2 really needs.**


	17. Of Kells

**Hello there fans. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but if you read some of my other work you'll have noticed that I've been downsizing the amount of stories that I've been working on at once. But now that I've got some free time, and we've learnt a bit more about the RWBYverse, I feel that I should probably get things moving again. This chapter focuses more on **_**other**_** characters besides my Guardian team and Team RWBY. So anyone wanting other perspectives will probably be happy.**

**As for the title, it was originally called 'Of Kells and Kings', but then I found that writing things down took up a lot of words, so I'm splitting the chapter in two. But next chapter, you'll understand why I went with 'Kells and Kings'.**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Of Kells…**

Roman hummed cheerfully to himself as he strutted around, busting out some dance moves to the sweet, sweet music he was listening to. It was the kind of music that inspired you, that made you want to enjoy the day again. Whenever he was in the dumps, he would always listen to this kind of music. High-pitched, shrill, electric…

Still humming, he turned down the knob before him. The Fallen sagged in its chains, electricity arcing across its skin. Yep, the sound of someone non-human _freak_ screaming always made him feel so much better. The only downside was the smell of charred meat. He preferred his meat to be a bit rarer than that.

Sliding his hand further down his cane, he smashed the handle into the Fallen's face. It groaned, glaring at him. "Wakey, wakey. Time for some more questions." He said in a sing-song tone. Tapping at his scroll, he brought up a hologram of the solar system. "I know you can understand me, so here's how it's going to go. I'm going to point to each planet in the system. When I get to whatever planet you dogs are hiding on, you just start nodding. If I get to Pluto without anything, then I'll start hurting you again. And maybe, I'll keep it going for longer." His finger moved, starting off at Mercury. The Fallen just kept glaring as he moved from planet to planet. Roman stopped halfway through to vent some anger, smacking the Fallen over and over again. Then, he started again.

He got to Pluto, and his prisoner hadn't said a word. Sighing, he turned the knob again. The Fallen screamed in agony as electricity flowed through him. Roman went back to humming away, twirling his cane as he leaned back against the machinery.

Things had been pretty good here in the Reef. Thanks to his 'contributions' in acquiring a possible weapon, the Awoken treated him like a lord. He got gold, silver, Glimmer, and fancy silk outfits. He didn't need to break his back doing work; in fact, the only reason he was even working on this case was because he enjoyed it. How often do you get to torture an alien freak?

That said, things weren't always so rosy. People still looked at him with apprehension, wary of 'humans' living amongst them. He was growing bored with having nothing to do, nothing to steal. And there was the constant worry that something would happen to ruin all of this. Like the Reef deciding he had outlived his usefulness. Some, like Cinder, might call it paranoia. But he didn't make it this far by being an idiot. Anyone who got too cosy ended up dead or arrested. But that wasn't going to happen to _him_.

He turned the knob down again, ready to ask again. The Fallen could barely lift his head, and he made a whimpering noise. Roman smirked nastily. "There, there. The pain can all be over soon. Just give me what _I_ want, and I'll give you what _you_ want." The Fallen slowly nodded. It got the message now. "Good." He brought up the star map again, and moved through the planets again.

He got to Earth before the Fallen started nodding again.

Roman smiled. The Queen would be happy with this. "Wonderful work. You're a real team player, you know that?" His hand moved towards the control panel.

The door behind him opened, someone standing in it. "Hello Roman." A female voice sounded. Roman stood up, spinning around and giving a big, warm smile.

"Petra." He said fondly. "How is my favourite Awoken beauty?"

Petra smiled wryly. "Well as always, Roman."

"And as expected. You came here just in time. Our 'friend' here just told me that the Wolves are based on Earth."

"That's wonderful news. But we'll need to pinpoint their _exact_ coordinates. I'll get Variks to talk to him later."

Roman scowled. "You're certain we can trust him? I mean, for all we know, he's allied with the traitors. He could be feeding them information, and telling us lies."

"Variks has proven his devotion to the Reef, and therefore the Queen trusts him. I trust the Queen; which means that I trust Variks." She looked down at the tablet in her hands. "Besides, you'll be too busy to keep interrogating the prisoner. The Queen has asked for you."

"Asked for _me_? Well, I'm very flattered." Roman headed out of the room, but not before turning the knob back on. The Fallen screeched as he closed the door behind him. "I bet she's going to thank me for all the hard work I've done for her. Is there going to be a ceremony?"

"I'm not sure. All I know is that she wants to see _all_ of your group. Immediately. As in drop everything, and get moving." A slight chill ran down his spine. She wanted all the 'Remnants'? Something didn't seem right about this. He might be overthinking, but his gut had saved him plenty of times. He wasn't going to ignore it _now_.

"Come on Petra. Couldn't you give me just a _little_ hint? I'd feel pretty stupid if I'm expecting her to scold me only to get a trophy." He put one hand on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. He gave her a warm, friendly smile. "Surely as one of her most trusted people you'd have _some_ idea what this is all about. Because let me tell you, it sounds _pretty_ important if she's ignoring the Wolves for whatever this is."

Petra looked around furtively, before leaning in. "Ok. I don't know if I'm supposed to mention this to anyone, but I _think_ it might be about the Dust you brought for us. Apparently, our scientists learned that it requires Light to work at all. Something that we just don't have all the way out here."

Roman's smile drooped. "I… see. Thanks for that Petra. You're one hell of woman." He gave her a friendly pat on the back. "You know, you've probably got _way_ more important things to do than make sure I get moving."

"Ugh. You have no idea. The Queen wants me to arrange a meeting with the City, and they're throwing up as much red tape as they can get away with. It's going to take _ages_ to sort through it all."

"I know what you mean. So why don't you go deal with that instead? She'll probably be over the moon if you got it done quickly. Maybe enough to personally thank you." Petra gave him a look. "Go on. I know my way to the Throne Room." He placed a hand over his breast. "I swear, upon my honour I will reach the Queen in _no time_ _flat_."

Petra laughed. "Alright Roman. But don't dawdle. The Queen doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"And I shan't keep her waiting." Roman replied, bowing and doffing his hat. Petra laughed again, heading for her station. As soon as she was far away, Roman let the smile slide off his face. He moved quickly and confidently towards his personal quarters.

Inside, just as he hoped, he found Neo waiting, doing up her nails. "Pack your stuff." He said firmly. "We're leaving." He bent over, grabbing crates and filling them with essentials. Food, water, Glimmer, and definitely gold. If there was some way back to Vale, he wasn't returning empty-handed. Not after all the shit he's been through.

Neo watched him in confusion, tapping away at her Scroll. He grabbed it as he worked, already reading it. "Why? What's happened?" She asked.

"All that Dust we brought here for the Queen? I just found out that it needs Light to work. So unless there's about a dozen-odd Guardians working for the Queen, all she's got it about a few tonnes of uselessness. How long do you think it'll be before she decides it's better for the Reef to stab us in the back?" Neo stared at him in shock, before running for her quarters. He had just finished packing when she came back out, her cargo already packed. Roman felt annoyed that _he_ didn't think of that. "Let's get moving. It won't be long before they come looking for us."

They booked it for the docks, taking shortcuts through old passages and tunnels. One of the first things Roman had Neo do when they arrived. But he was still a bit worried. They had been long enough that the Queen was probably asking about their whereabouts. It wouldn't take her long to seal off all ships.

"Grab that one right there." He ordered once they reached the docks, pointing to the ship getting resupplied. Two Awoken pilots were checking over lists, busy at work. Neo nodded, moving to intercept. He quickly scanned around, making sure that no one was…

"Going somewhere, yes?" There was a heavy thud as Variks placed his staff on the ground. His mask made it impossible to know his expression, but he sounds smug as hell. "Is Remnant not meant with Queen?"

"Been there, talked to her. She wants me to do some patrols. Are you questioning the decisions of our dear ruler?" Roman said back.

"Queen? No. You. Yes." Variks pointed. "Found Fallen in interrogation. Dead. Now you carry much cargo. Strange, yes?" There was a loud bang, and they both turned to see Neo fighting the pilots. Well, calling it a fight was generous. She was throwing the second pilot over the edge. Roman chuckled, holding up his cane just in time to block Variks strike.

"You know, I was actually hoping to see you before I left." He said sweetly. "Your attitude… it really _pisses me off_." He forced him back, pointing the end at him and firing. But a barrier surrounded Variks, the Dust round washing over it. The alien freak chuckled.

"Feeling mutual, yes. Kill you baaack." Variks responded. He tapped at his staff, and a blue orb formed within the head. He slammed the staff's base against the ground, and electricity surged towards Roman. He dodged, firing back. Shanks flew out of openings, flying towards them and firing. Variks pulled out a rifle, holding it in his lower arms. He kept slamming his staff while firing, Roman getting stung by multiple shots. He quickly ducked behind cover, blowing Shanks out of the sky. "You like Fallen. No honour; not worthy of trust."

"I am _nothing_ like your kind. Unlike you, I'll survive." Roman replied angrily. Variks slammed his staff again, and Roman found his cover floating into the air, electricity arcing over the crates. Then Variks swung his staff, and all the floating items flew directly at Roman. He fired a couple of shots before rolling away. Variks twisted the other way, and the crates came back. Roman was battered, and he could feel his Aura getting weaker. These things were really starting to hurt. "How the hell are you so good at fighting? You're a glorified librarian!"

"All Eliksni Scribes are Captains. Earned title through battle. Not easy prey." Variks gloated. But then they heard the sound an engine starting, and both turned to see the ship rising. Variks growled in his language, and then the ship turned towards him. The guns started firing, forcing Variks to block the shots with a giant barrier.

"Beautiful work Neo." Roman called out, running for the ship. And just in time too; the alarms were going off now. He was teleported inside the ship, and then they were turning away and flying off. "We're gonna have to do some serious flying through the debris. Lose our pursuers, and head for Earth. At least we know that planet's habitable." They both were jolted as shots impacted, striking the plating. Behind them, two ships were flying in formation, while they could see a third approaching from the front.

Neo grimaced, pushing the stick towards the debris. They scraped through an opening, twisting around the battered hull of some large vessel. Behind them, their pursuers blasted a hole, quickly following them.

Up, down, left, up, left, right, down, down, left. If it weren't for the lack of gravity and g-forces, Roman would've been pasted over the walls by now. As they made their escape, he noticed a large vessel floating above them. The few lights showed that it was inhabited.

Without faltering, he grabbed the stick and pulled the trigger, the guns firing on the ship. Holes formed in the plating, and a giant piece sheared off. Awoken floated out into space, struggling for breath. They scraped under the segment, and he laughed as it blocked off their attackers.

Smiling to herself, Neo activated the warp drive, sending them away from the Reef.

* * *

Ozpin and Glynda watched from above as a team of students faced off against a Guardian. Killran, a Veteran of the Crucible. Had a K/D ratio of 6.47. Managed to survive an ambush by three Titans. And right now, proving his reputation was well-earned.

Jasmine Pale charged in with her spear, which Killran deflected with a shield attached to his bracer. As she continued her charge, she spun round, sweeping her spear at his feet. He jumped over, right into the path of her teammate Alabaster Blanc. Blanc swung his hammer for him, but was caught off-guard when Killran boosted over his head. Then he dropped down, forcing them both to scatter. Bullets struck him as the third member of their team strafed him, machine pistols firing. Clark Navy. Now a Hunter. Killran tossed a grenade on the ground, Arc bolts striking around him. Team JACK jumped out of the way, but their last member, Kiwi Verne, wasn't quite fast enough. The bolts went for him, blasting him away and doing quite a number to his Aura.

Killran charged into him, grabbing him by the head and slamming him against the ground, knocking him out of the battle. Alabaster charged in, hammer overhead, forcing Killran to block with his arms. Smirking, Alabaster pulled the trigger. A sonic blast smashed into Killran, forcing him into the ground and blasting the hammer back. Killran pointed his shield at Alabaster and squeezed his hand, a sharp ring firing off it. Alabaster dodged the blade, but then Killran was moving again, rifle firing. Alabaster responded by detaching the head of his hammer, turning it into a sonic blaster. He fired several blasts, but then a sixth sense made him duck. The blade passed over his head, returning to the shield. Killran immediately fired it again, bouncing the blade off the wall. As he did so, he slammed a fist against the ground before charging.

At which point Jessica and Clark moved in to intercept. Jessica's spear shrank until it was a sword, while Clark jumped into the air, using his Semblance to almost teleport around. Killran turned his Auto Rifle into a mace, battling Jessica with ease. Knocking away her blade, he tossed down another grenade before charging for Clark. Clark smirked before spinning around him, his agility helping him avoid his blow. So Killran changed targets, crashing into Alabaster and knocking him down. Alabaster rolled out of his reach, grabbing the shaft of his hammer. But then Killran grabbed hold of the end, tugging it towards him and smashing Alabaster into the wall. Then he twisted around, blocking Jessica and sweeping her feet out from under her. Grabbing his shotgun instead, he activated his charge ability, surprising Clark. One shot from his shotgun managed to blow him off his feet, and then he struck with his shield blade. It struck his Aura, before bouncing off the wall and hitting again. Then Killran dropped his weapon as he heard Jessica yelling. Grabbing her spear with both hands, he easily spun her around like a hammer, knocking her into Clark and sending them flying.

A loud alarm sounded, and the match was over. Ozpin and Glynda applauded politely as Killran bowed. He helped the students to their feet, and started pointing out flaws in their techniques.

"Despite all the hardships they face, I feel as though this will benefit them greatly." Ozpin said aloud. "It's one thing to learn from a seasoned Hunter. It's another thing to learn it from someone centuries old."

"True." Glynda admitted. "But I can't help but feel that Guardians would be too easy-going to be teachers. Death isn't as final for them; and that makes them careless."

"I suppose it _is_ hard to care when most times you can come back again. But that's not to say that future generations wouldn't benefit from their knowledge." Glynda gave him a look, but then his Scroll started ringing. He opened it to find Commander Zavala on the line.

"Headmaster Ozpin. We have an important matter to discuss with you as soon as possible." He said. "This is big. It could affect the balance of power in our Solar System."

Ozpin nodded. "I understand. Glynda and I will be there shortly." He ended the call, noticing Killran watching them. Ozpin nodded, and Killran did the same. Their students would be safe with him. Ozpin and Glynda left the arena stands, heading for the docking port.

As they left the building, they passed by students watching an ongoing Crucible match happening in what had previously been classrooms and halls. They cheered as two Guardians smashed through a window, duking it out between them. The two separated, and one fired a rocket. The other dodged, and the rocket struck the barrier surrounding the Crucible arena. The two of them hurried by, aware of how urgent this meeting was. They passed through a disused classroom and a new exit made through the wall, stepping onto a large platform bolted to the side of Beacon.

There were no giant gun emplacements or missile batteries in plain view. Yet everyone on Mars had quickly learnt that Beacon was under Guardian protection. Very few invaders lasted long against Guardians angry that their match had been interrupted.

"What do you suppose this meeting is about?" Glynda asked, once they had hopped into one of the waiting ships programmed to travel to the City. "Do you think that they had discovered how to get us home?"

"A pleasant idea, but I think they would've said so already. Most likely, this is about the Last City."

"Hmph. One would start to think that they're focusing more on themselves than us."

"They are teetering on the brink of annihilation, while we at least have _some_ semblance of stability. We can't expect them to drop everything to help us."

"I know." Glynda sighed. "But I'm just… worried." They felt the ship slow down as it exited warp speed, followed by the sensation of falling as it passed through Earth's atmosphere.

"Well, at least we will know more in a short while." He said.

* * *

Ironwood turned as they both entered. "You made it." He said.

"It sounded important, after all." Ozpin replied. "Have they said anything to you?"

"Not yet. They were waiting for all of us to arrive first." They all turned as the Vanguard approached, led by the Speaker. He gave them a short bow.

"General Ironwood. Headmaster Ozpin. Professor Glynda." The Speaker said in his soft voice. "Thank you for arriving so soon. We have a possibly critical matter that may very well involve your people here in our system."

Cayde took over. "We've been getting calls from the Reef. Apparently, the Queen wants to talk to the people in charge."

Ozpin blinked. The Queen of the Reef? Calling _them_? The Vanguards' guarded expressions made him wonder if there was more to such a simple call.

"Naturally, in the face of the Reef's crimes against Remnant, you refused to listen to her." Ironwood said. The Vanguard glanced at each other. Ironwood frowned as he understood the silent message. "You can't be serious. You're actually going to accept?"

"As we have _repeatedly_ said, things aren't so simple here. But you need to understand something. Communications between Earth and the Reef are few and far in between, and it's almost always been from us to them. The Queen has never directly spoken to the Last City."

"Ikora's been around since the Collapse. If she says the Queen's never given us a house call, then she's probably right." Cayde added.

"In addition, we've had several reports from Guardians who have faced the House of Wolves." Zavala said. "The Queen bested and captured their Kell, granting her leadership over them."

"So you believe that either they're attacking on her command, and she's here to gloat… or they're no longer working for her." Ironwood guessed.

Zavala nodded. "Either way, we need intel. As such, we have to accept her call."

"If it makes you feel any better, you'll get a chance to insult her to her face." Cayde said helpfully.

"Can we please not immediately cause a diplomatic incident?" The Speaker asked as he tapped at a tablet. The screen before them lit up, revealing a blue-skinned woman with long white hair and bright eyes. The Speaker bowed slightly. "Queen Mara Sov. It is an honour to finally hear from you. I only wish it wasn't while we hear reports of the House of Wolves attacking our Guardians."

"Well fortunately for the City, my reasons to call are in fact _about_ the Wolves." Mara Sov replied. "As much as I… despise saying it, somehow Skolas managed to escape the Prison of Elders. With their Kell freed, most of the Wolves betrayed my trust." Her voice was tinged with fury.

Cayde stepped forward. "And you somehow expect _us_ to clean up your mess."

"That is its duty, is it not? To destroy the enemies of the City? It cannot simply ignore this."

"Is that how what you think?" Ironwood asked hotly. "That one of _your_ prisoners escape, and you don't have to lift a finger because the Last City will clean up your mess? Where we come from, that's just not acceptable behaviour."

"Then sit on your laurels until the Wolves tear down your walls. It matters little to me." The Queen said dismissively. "The Reef will endure."

"Except that this isn't about survival." Zavala spoke up. "This is about retribution." He smirked as Mara Sov glowered at him. "You are a proud queen. The Wolves betraying you, stabbing you in the back, running back to Skolas… That must hurt." He crossed his arms. "You wouldn't have called the Last City if you didn't care about any of this. What _I_ want to know is what exactly you're hoping to barter for our aid."

"… I refuse to speak to a traitor." Sov hissed, before facing the Speaker. "Your City is in no position to ignore this. Why do you and your things keep pretending that you can?"

"Because all we _need_ to do is stop them from attacking our walls." The Speaker said softly. "But we won't be your agents of vengeance. Not unless you are willing to make reparations."

The Queen looked down at him. "You want me to apologise."

"It's only fair. Your brother _did_ bring an entire school to our system, heedless of the lives that could've been lost. Putting some effort into making it up to them is only fair."

Mara Sov glowered again, but then smirked. "I see. I thought this might come up at some point. The Remnants have no understanding of our necessity. But… I _suppose_ I could make some contribution." She looked at Ironwood and Ozpin. "I have been informed that the Last City sent a formal letter demanding the extradition of our Remnant allies to you, so that they could be punished for their crimes. We had refused at the time; they had been of great use to us. But recently, their behaviour has worn out their welcome."

Cayde smirked. "You found out that Dust only works for people with Light, didn't you?"

Mara glared at him. "Tell it to speak when spoken to." She turned back to the Speaker. "Perhaps I could give you justice, as a sign of my sincerity. Surely that would be a worthy start."

"A worthy start? You think that…" Ironwood was interrupted by Zavala's hand on his shoulder, the Titan Vanguard shaking his head slightly.

"We will need to discuss this between ourselves." The Speaker said. "We will call you back when we have decided."

"Do not take too long. The Wolves prowl around your City, waiting to pounce." The screen went dark, the call ended.

"_That's_ her offer? Extraditing criminals to us, when she should've done that in the first place? She's insane to think that will be anywhere _near_ enough." Ironwood fumed.

"Oh yeah, she's crazy. But that doesn't mean she's _completely_ wrong. We can't really pretend the Wolves aren't our problem. We're going to end up fighting them over and over." Cayde said.

Ozpin butted in. "I know this doesn't really concern the discussion, but why does she refer to Cayde as an 'it' and Zavala as a traitor?"

"It's not Cayde she's calling an 'it'. As far as the Queen is concerned, Guardians aren't people anymore. We're things, at best." Zavala answered. "As for me… Well, the Reef believes that Awoken should show loyalty _only_ to the Reef. Any Awoken who supports the Last City is automatically a traitor in their eyes. They hate Master Rahool just as much for working here."

"If we could please focus, we should be talking about her offer." Ikora said. "Zavala, you worked for her for a time. Do you think she's honest about letting them go?"

"Mara Sov tends to have plans within plans. I wouldn't be surprised if she had arrested the Remnant criminals the moment her scientists confirmed they needed Light. They weren't useful to her anymore as anything else." He smirked. "But we _do_ have an advantage over her. Her pride. The fact that she called expecting us to kill the Wolves for her shows how much she wants them dead. We could bargain for more as long as we agree to hunt them down."

"If she wants the Wolves dead so much, couldn't she send her own army after them?" Glynda asked.

"She could. Except that the Reef's army isn't big enough. There would be too many casualties. Having Guardians hunt them down would be more efficient in her eyes." Zavala said.

"So we must ask ourselves an important question." The Speaker spoke up. "The Wolves are most certainly a threat; one we cannot just ignore. Do we believe them to be a great enough threat to work alongside the Reef? Or do we risk everything we have worked so hard to obtain just to spite her for her actions?" Everyone looked at each other, all conflicted.

"I suppose we don't have much choice. But let's see if we can't get something more out of her." Ozpin replied. Ironwood scowled, but nodded his head.

"In that case, let _me_ do the talking." Cayde said. He tapped at the console they had crowded around, and the screen lit up again. Mara Sov appeared on screen. "Alright Queenie. We've made a decision. We'll hunt down Skolas and his Wolves for you. But see… we're not all that happy about what you're offering in return."

"I am offering justice. I am offering revenge. Does it not understand what these mean?" Mara replied coolly.

"Oh, _it_ understands. We just don't buy it. You said it yourself; they're no longer useful to you. Which pretty much tells us that if they _were_ useful, you would've _never_ considered giving them up. So, it's not all that sincere now, is it? You want to prove you're not the queen bitch of the galaxy, you're gonna have to offer more."

Mara scowled. "It believes it can _extort me_?"

"You dragged civilians into a fight that has nothing to do with them, putting them in danger." The Speaker said. "And you left them to die on Mars were it not for our aid. They will eventually return to their world; maybe we'll even create a bridge between our world and theirs. Do you really want them to remember the Reef as an enemy when you could be somewhat civil to them? They may consider vengeance."

Mara Sov paused, before frowning. "Fine then. State your terms, and I will consider them."

"Well I want a pony, and a dollhouse, and a barbeque…" Zavala stepped forward and smacked him upside the head. "Just kidding. We want access to whatever information you've got on the Vex. The faster we get these folks home, the less time you've got to deal with us glaring at you. We also want all your Dust, since it's useless to _you_ guys. Oh, and we'll want access to some sweet loot. You want Guardians to hunt for you? You've gotta offer them something in return."

"Your Guardians work best when a shiny weapon is dangled on string before them?"

Cayde shrugged. "It's worked out well for us so far."

Mara Sov took a deep breath. "Very well. I suppose your terms aren't _quite_ as terrible as they could be. But they are _final_. No demanding more at a later date."

"In that case, maybe also throw in access passes to all the 'traitors'." Cayde made quotation marks at the word. "And also tell us the _real_ reason you lot don't want to work with us."

"There is only one reason, Exo. We did not trust the Traveller before, and we trust it even less now. Look upon our system and tell me if you think your god won." She smirked. "I will send out a message to all Guardians, inviting them to the Reef. Though traitors will not find many warm welcomes here." And she cut off communications.

"Let's hope she lives up to her side of the deal." Ironwood said.

"After inviting a small army into her domain? She'll have to." Zavala replied. "We used to kill any Awoken found by a Ghost. Or try to at least. Most got away with their lives, leaving piles of corpses behind. She remembers that too."

"We shall simply have to wait and see." The Speaker said.

* * *

**\- Systems online.**

**-Core increasing energy flow.**

**-'WakeUp' system engaging.**

**-Diagnostic beginning.**

**-Memory recall activated.**

**-Reviewing files 'LastCity01000101'.**

**-Exo bar 'Big Rig Fuel Stop' marked.**

**-Exo Dr Ratchet-14 identified.**

**-Mechanical service 'Oil and Sprockets' marked.**

**-File review complete.**

**-Diagnostic complete.**

**-System 100%.**

**-Current time: 13:00.**

**-WakeUp program complete.**

**-Activating Prototype Energy Neural Network (Y)unit.**

**-Begin.**

Penny opened and closed her optics as her system went fully online, before sitting upright. She had been offline on the floor before the Servitor, resting on an old mattress. Her diagnostic complete, she stood upright and left the room, smiling. This was the day. She was finally going to meet with some Exos. Learn more about them. Hang out with other machines…

Then again, there was a possible ticking sound coming from the engines. She should probably investigate. Would take her until 00:00 to complete…

She started slapping her cheeks, metal ringing slightly. No. She could do this. She wasn't going to run away. She wasn't nervous. So what if she was interacting with machines advanced enough to be thought of as human? So what if her technology is probably centuries behind them? There's nothing wrong with the classics. Why, most innovations go forever without any significant alteration. She could share so many parts with them. Like… her endoskeleton. Every robot needs one of those, right? And… a power core. That's important too. Did theirs look like a heart, or was it more normal-looking? Could they eat food? The fact they have a bar means they eat _something_. Could they convert organic matter into energy? How did they achieve the…

Snap out of it Penny. This isn't a big deal. You should be happy about this. You're not alone anymore. And you can finally talk to a machine that has more than three dozen responses programmed in. Humming to herself, she made it to the shuttle, and landed in Tower 3. Linked up to the Tower's map system, she easily found her way to the Big Rig Fuel Stop, a bar named after a common motor oil refuelling brand. She stopped just long enough to organise her data, and then confidently headed inside.

And found her way blocked by a large arm. "Can't you read the sign, little lady?" The bouncer growled. His right arm had been replaced by a bigger prosthetic, bristling with spikes and daggers. "Exos only. Beat it."

Aggression. Meant to scare her off. Expectations: He believed her to be human. She smiled as she just stood there. "Salutations, fellow machine." She said cheerfully. "I would like to see my fellow robots please."

"Didn't you hear me? Scram." The bouncer said angrily. "We're sick and tired of human kids trying to sneak in for a dare. Management said that I was allowed to _forcibly_ persuade your kind to leave." He pulled out a large rifle, cocking it for intimidation.

"Oh, I am not human. I am a synthetic lifeform programmed with artificial intelligence and granted an Aura by the Traveller's Light. You may scan me if you wish."

The bouncer rolled his eyes. "Yeah. _Sure_ you are. Just like the other kids. I'm only going to say it one more time. Get the hell out of here." Penny resisted her sighing programme. She had hoped that she could've seen how Exo relax; talk to a few maybe. But she guessed she was too human-like to fit in. Maybe if she…

She slapped her forehead. Of course. That was the answer. "Wait." She said quickly. "Let me just show you something quickly." She worked her finger along the synthetic skin covering her hand, probing for a tear that had formed a while ago. She never had it repaired because it was hardly noticeable. Once she found it, she managed get enough of a grip to tear at it, revealing the metal underneath. She held her hand out before her. "See? I am synthetic." The bouncer leaned in, optic likely scanning her hand.

"…Huh. Could be a prosthetic. Plenty of those running around." He looked like he was about to say more when he spotted someone approaching. "Warlock. Nice to see you around here. Fighting the good fight out there?" He said jovially.

"As always." Penny turned to see a Guardian approaching. He was shorter and rounder than most Guardians, dressed in a coat that stopped halfway down his legs and with chainmail along his arms. His helmet was off, revealing him to be an Exo. Spines were attached to the top of his head. The guardian stopped and looked at her. "Who's the girl?"

"Just some human kid who can't take a hint. Probably here for a dare again." The bouncer said.

"My name is Penny. It is a pleasure to meet a fellow machine." Penny greeted, holding out her hand. The Guardian stared at her hand; and at the metal peeking out from under her synthetic skin.

"Couldn't be." He muttered. His Ghost appeared above his shoulder, beams scanning her body.

"Scan complete. This girl is definitely that Proto-Exo we've been hearing about." The Ghost said in a nasally voice.

"Wait. She's actually a machine?" The Bouncer asked. The Ghost projected an x-ray, showing off her metal endoskeleton. "Well holy shit." He stepped to one side, holstering his gun. "Guess I owe you an apology, little one. Just don't cause any trouble while you're in there."

"Certainly." Penny replied, walking past him as she followed the Warlock. Passing through the archway, she was surprised by the increase in decibels. Some kind of Western music was playing loudly as Exos mingled. A few were playing on a table, pushing holographic shapes across a board. Some started cheering as one shape exploded into virtual dust, the other team groaning. Further away, a group were cheering on an Exo female as she drank from a fuel line. She ended up coughing up copious amounts of fuel as it became too much for her. Glimmer traded hands.

A gloved hand clapped down on her shoulder. The Warlock was still standing next to her. "Come on, young one. There's some people I want you to meet." He said, gently but firmly steering her towards a large table near the back. It was a giant gear, the surface marred by scratchings and drawings and code. Several Guardians sat around it, talking and jostling and comparing weapons and armour. One of them suddenly stood up, holding a bulbous tube between his fingers. His friends raised their mugs as he left, spinning the tube in his hand. Then they spotted Penny and her friend.

One of them, a woman wearing a Hunter's Cloak, started chuckling. "Zak-7, you old dog. Is this what you're doing when you're 'studying'? I never had you pegged for a humanphile. Thought you only liked gears and plating."

Zak held up his middle finger as he sat down. "Bite my carbon-scored ass, Dot. This isn't what you think it is."

"Looks a lot like you're gonna get us in trouble." A deep-voiced Titan replied, his words almost rumbling. "You know the rules; humans aren't allowed. Some idiot's going to inject motor oil, and then this place gets in trouble again. Take your girlfriend outside before management has a fit."

Penny bowed to them. "Salutations. I am the Prototype Energy Neural Y Unit. It is a pleasure to meet you." She said. The Guardians stared at her like she spoke in gibberish.

"She's that Proto-Exo we've been hearing things about." Zak explained. "You know, the Artificial Intelligence from that other world."

"Shit, really?" Dot asked. "She looks so lifelike. I mean, what is she even covered by? Some kind of synthetic material?"

Another Warlock stood up, his Ghost already moving towards her. "How did your AI get developed? Was it built piece by piece, or is it a copy?" Other started asking more questions, all of them overlapping.

Then the Titan smashed one of them in the face. "Alright abacuses, calm down. You're gonna overload her processor at this rate. One question at a time." He said.

"I'll go first." Dot said. "Do you have an _actual_ name? Or do people just call you Prototype blah-de-blah?"

"My name is Penny. It is a pleasure to meet you." She replied.

"Penny, huh?" A male hunter said. "So what brings a little bot like you to a bar?"

"I wished to observe my fellow artificial intelligences outside of combat scenarios and compare my programming capabilities to theirs. From what I have observed so far, I am possibly only one itineration away."

"Aw. She wants to grow up." Dot cooed. "I say we help her out. Bartender! Another drink over here please!" She turned back to Penny. "Hope you like unleaded."

"I… haven't actually tried drinking oil before." Penny replied nervously. "My power core is optimised to function for extended periods, recharging when I enter 'rest mode'."

"First step to acting natural; stop talking like a machine." Someone said. "You don't have to act like you've only got about 70 gigs and pre-recorded messages only."

"Right. Sorry. I just wanted to make it clear that I'm one of you." She apologised. A Frame brought over a mug filled with oil. She analysed it with her sensors before taking a small sip. She immediately started coughing. The Guardians started laughing, some calling her a 'lightweight'.

Zak pulled her drink away. "How about we just settle for a few games of pool instead? It's a lot more fun than getting drunk on oil."

"That's debatable." Someone replied, but the Guardians started getting up and heading for a rectangular table with holographic balls set up in a triangle. The balls were in several different colours and marked by different numbers, but some had a second symbol on them. A snake, an explosion, a black hole, and a few others. She hoped that the Guardians would explain the rules to her; Father never really let her play games with others while she was developing.

A female Titan grabbed a pole, lining up a white ball with the triangle. "Watch and learn, newbie." She said, bending over. She moved around the table and hit the white on an angle. It bounced off the walls of the table before smacking into one side of the triangle.

On one ball, the explosion symbol lit up and blasted the balls away.

* * *

**For anyone wanting some time with Penny, there's a bit of it for you. Probably not the big reveal you were expecting, but I felt like my brain was slowing down for ideas. Besides, aside from an examination there's not really much that Exo doctors can do with her yet. They'll probably be more interested in her father, Dr Polendina. **

**Something I'm **_**very**_** happy with though is that quick fight scene between Roman and Variks. I know that Variks looks more like a Vandal, but I decided to make him into a former captain instead. Things like prophesies and knowledge might be important to the Fallen, and the kind of thing you'd trust to a Captain instead.**


End file.
